The New Salamander
by Piece Bot
Summary: While Derrick was having a few drinks with his friends at a bonfire costume party, one of them pushes him in. After being saved by something, he ends up in Equestria and on the outskirts of the Crystal Empire.
1. The Salamander Lives

A man named Derrick was at a costume party with his friends near Halloween. But that night, something very strange happened.

This is where our story begins…

"I'm at a costume party that is being held beside a bonfire. Considering one of my favourite characters uses flames, I decided to go as him." Derrick said, talking to one of his friends at the party. He was wearing a black vest with yellow trimming and nothing on underneath, a scale-patterned scarf was around his neck and on his legs were baggy white pants, tied to the middle of the lower legs. A black cloth made out of the same material as his vest was tied around his waist with a brown belt and a silver buckle tying it in place. He also wore black sandals on his feet.

"So that's why you're dressed as Natsu." His friend said. They clanked their beer bottles together and took a swig. "Do you also have the Fairy Tail tattoo?" He asked, pointing towards Derrick's right bicep. Derrick nodded and showed him. "That's cool. Want to go outside? We'll get warmer that way." He asked, gesturing to the bonfire.

Derrick shrugged. "Okay, I don't see why not." He agreed and followed. Soon as they got near it though, his friend got behind him and suddenly pushed Derrick towards the bonfire. Stumbling towards it, he tripped on a loose pebble and fell in.

Only for a woman to appear in the fire, and stop his fall. "Fire, bend and break. Light, protect and shield," she said, as the fire bent away from her and Derrick. As his friend watched, the woman stepped from the flame, and saw fire run around her heels playfully. It was in that moment that they realized she had cat ears and a tail.

Derrick fell on his hands and knees, expecting to be burnt. Feeling nothing of the sort, he turned and looked as the various people around the bonfire gasped and stepped back from the woman. His friend though, smiled goofily and wobbled where he stood.

"Hiya toots, why the ears and tail?" Derrick's friend slurred at the woman, barely even noticing the flames around her feet.

"Hmm?" she asked, tilting her head as the ears flicked and her tail began playing with the fire.

"Max, don't do this." Derrick warned, silently thanking the woman for saving him from the fire.

"I'll do what I want." Max said and stumbled closer, his beer sloshing out of the bottle somewhat. "I asked why you had ears and a tail. Seems strange for a pretty girl like you." He repeated as his eyes blearily followed her tail.

"Oh, those? I've had them since before this universe even existed," she said, shrugging.

Derrick's eyes widened as he heard that but stayed crouched in the flames. 'How can she be that old?' He thought as he saw Max continue chatting with her.

"Is that so?" Max asked, leaning back a bit to look at the ears. "You don't look that old." He slurred, hiccuping a bit.

"Well of course not. Age is easily defied," she said.

"Sure, whatever you say." Max said, blinking with one eye and then the other as he tried to clear his vision.

"Normally, I wouldn't offer this. But, would you like to leave this world?" The woman turned around and offered a hand to Derrick.

Derrick looked at the hand, then to his drunken friend and then back to the woman. "Sure, why not. My friend seems to be an idiot anyway." He said shrugging as he stood up, and held his hand in hers.

"Well," she suddenly kissed his forehead, "enjoy yourself."

Getting a surprised look on his face, Derrick disappeared and in a blink, reappeared somewhere entirely different. Quickly patting his body to see if everything was in place, he sighed in relief to see that his limbs were all in the right place. Feeling something wet surrounding his feet, he found that he was standing in a small puddle of water amidst a big blanket of snow.

"Why am I not cold?" He asked himself as he stepped out of the puddle. Soon as he did, the water almost immediately got refrozen. "Just how cold is it here? Wherever here is." Derrick mumbled and putting a hand to his forehead tried to figure out where the closest settlement was. Feeling something tap him on the shoulder, he turned around and found a black smoke creature. Derrick's mouth fell open, turned and promptly ran in the direction he was about to head in anyway.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" He screamed, arms flailing above his head as he attempted to outrun the smoke monster. Seeing the snow melt as his sandals came into contact with it made Derrick's run immensely easier but it didn't seem like the smoke monster was hindered by the snow either.

Feeling a burst of energy, he instinctively made the energy move to his feet. Looking down at his feet, he was shocked and scared at the fire coming off of his feet. "AH! FIRE! GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OFF!" Derrick shouted as he failed to put out the flames on his feet. Not realising that his feet and shoes weren't the slightest bit burnt, he continued patting it out with his bare hand while rapidly hopping away.

"Hands not burning. Great. Feet not burning. Even better." Derrick reasoned as he realised he wasn't burning in the slightest but a lot of hops told him otherwise if the vast amount of footprint puddles were anything to go by. "Maybe I should've realised this sooner." He added. Seeing the black smoke monster looming over the horizon, he promptly turned and ran, hoping that there was a city or town in this general direction.

Eventually coming upon tall crystal structures, he laughed to himself and put on a burst of speed. Noticing something pink come down around the crystal, he checked behind him and found the smoke hot on his heels. Panicking, Derrick dived for it and ended up sliding in on a puddle of water just as the pink wall came down and knocked off a piece of something from the smoke monster.

"Who goes there?" A gruff voice asked as it poked Derrick with the tip of a spear.

"Ouch." Derrick said, wiggling a bit under the poke.

"Get up." The voice said again, sounding distinctly male as he was picked up by the scarf.

Feeling his windpipe being constricted by the grip, Derrick gagged and tried to claw his way out of it.

"Don't bother. I have an iron grip." The voice reacted to Derrick's clawing. "Come on. The princess will want to see you." He said and dragged him by the scarf, his feet scuffing along the ground.

* * *

After having been dragged all the way to someplace, Derrick's face was slightly blue due to his brain not receiving any air. Based on what he's seen, he was most likely dragged to somewhere with crystal. It seemed the whole place has been built with crystal alone.

"Ack! Help!" Derrick choked out as he tried for the umpteenth time to claw at his captor's hand.

"I found someone at the edge of the city!" The voice said loudly.

"Get off him! He can't breathe!" A female voice this time commanded. Immediately feeling the grip lessen, Derrick got some breath back and pulled his scarf out of the hand.

"Thanks." He breathed, going into a sitting position and turning around. Looking up, Derrick swore he felt his neck creak at the sheer angle he had to look. He found a group of about three or four people with only one difference. They had tails, horns and wings. Derrick's eye twitched and his mouth fell open in an almost perfect 'o'.

"You are most welcome." One of them said. The voice was attached to a woman with pink skin and her hair had purple, pink and blonde hues. She was wearing coloured crystal as armor that covered most of her body, only leaving the arms and legs free. As well as room for her wings. Derrick highly doubted the armor was practical but if anything he's seen so far is anything to go by, then maybe it was.

"Who are you?" Derrick asked bluntly, sitting cross-legged. He got hit on the side of the head by something blunt. "Ow! What was that for?" He groaned, rubbing the sore spot.

"The person you are addressing is called Princess Cadence." Gruff Voice emphasised the word princess in case the meaning was lost to the human before him. Derrick thought that privately nicknaming him Gruff Voice was a riot.

"Where's your tail?" Another female voice asked. Derrick looked in her direction and found that she was dressed similarly to the princess, except the crystal was coloured gold and not silver.

"Don't have one." Derrick replied. The all gasped at that.

"Why not?" She asked.

"Evolution most likely." Derrick replied and stood up and dusted himself off, not even noticing little flames appear and disappear as he patted himself. "What are all your names? May as well ask considering I'll be here a while." Derrick asked, rubbing his hands together as he looked up.

"You already know Princess Cadence and Gruff Voice. I am-" She was interrupted by laughter.

"HA! Gruff Voice!? That's his actual name? HAHAHAHA!" Derrick bursted out laughing but was stopped mid laugh by a sudden blow to the head, making him fall into a crouch. "Augh! What is your problem with me?" He asked angrily.

"My mama gave me that name and I wear it proudly to this day." Gruff sniffed and gave him another whack for good measure.

"Oh come on! I didn't even do anything that time!" Derrick said, jumping up with flames suddenly appearing on his fists. Gruff was silent but readied his spear all the same. If he was surprised by the flames, then he didn't show it. Derrick, however, had a different reaction. When he looked down to his fists, his eyes widened and he began running around like a chook with its head cut off. "FIRE! AGAIN! WHY ME!?" Derrick shouted helplessly. Some snow was chucked onto him but all that did was melt away almost instantly, leaving the flames untouched.

"How did that not work?" Dazzle Gleam asked in shock, following his running with her head.

"I have absolutely no clue." Cadence answered, following him with her head as well. "I would rather you didn't do that Gruff." She held a hand out to stop him from whacking the human over his head again.

"I was only going to give him a small tap, Princess." Gruff replied, giving a frown as he held his spear in place by his side.

"You know," Derrick placed his hand on his chin, stopping his running suddenly, "if flames come from my hands and feet, then maybe I can also do this." He said and feeling hot embers in his gut, Derrick tried to bring that feeling up to the surface and out of his mouth but the only result he got was some fire drool. "Well that didn't work." He said in confusion and looked at the armored group. They all made weird faces and backed away a bit. "What?"

"Y-you have drool. Fire d-drool coming from your mouth …" Dazzle said hesitantly, pointing to him. Derrick only raised an eyebrow, and then made an attempt to look down. Soon as he did, he freaked out and began running around in circles.

"You may as well knock him out, Gruff. This could take a while." Cadence suggested and with a salute from the Pegasus, Gruff immediately gave Derrick a hearty thwack on the head, instantly knocking him out. "That may have been a bit hard. Bring him in and take him to a guest room. I'll speak with him when he wakes up." Cadence said with a sigh and smile. She walked inside the crystal castle and stopped every so often, making sure that her personal guards were following her. Once they had him safely inside and in a guest room, Cadence turned to the two guards.

"I want you two to guard him until he wakes up." She said authoritatively.

"What?" "Why?" They both asked at the same time.

"Who knows where he came from? Other people could be looking for him and they may want to attack him so while he rests up from the … beating," Cadence grimaced at the word as she knew it wasn't the right one, "I want you two to look after him. No buts." Cadence said as she saw the both of them try to protest again. With that, the princess walked away to the balcony to tell Shining of what had happened.

"I thought guarding Princess Cadence was boring, this will be even moe so since he won't even be able to talk back." Dazzle complained; jabbing a thumb in the direction of the closed door.

"We do what Princess Cadence tells us." Gruff said as he stood at attention.

"I know you follow whatever the princess says to the letter but would it kill you once in a while to loosen up a bit?" Dazzle asked as she looked at him in a mixture of disbelief and pleading.

"I would but it's not break time yet." He answered in a monotonous tone. Dazzle just sighed and stood loosely at attention in front of the door.


	2. Crystal Magic

"Why does it feel like I ran my head into a brick wall multiple times?" Derrick groaned, rubbing a bump on his head.

"Because that's what it feels like when you get hit with the butt of a spear multiple times." Gruff answered as he stood beside the door. The other guard, however, walked right on in and patted him on the head.

"I never got to introduce myself. My name is Dazzle Gleam." She said brightly, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Derrick hissed when she patted him but sat up and looked her up and down. She was clad in the same gold crystallised armor as Gruff Voice was, her skin was dark blue and her mane was two-toned, having green and white twine throughout. "Dazzle Gleam?" He asked, rubbing his head again.

"Yuh huh?" Dazzle asked as she stopped bouncing.

"Tell me something. Your name is Dazzle Gleam and his name is *snort* Gruff Voice."

"I heard that!" Gruff shouted into the room.

"Sorry. Can't get over it. My name is Derrick. Pleased to meet you. Now him," he pointed to Gruff. "Not so much." He said and got up off the bed, stretching. He could have sworn he heard a few bones crack into place as he straightened.

"You shouldn't be up and about so soon after you've been knocked out." A voice floated through the door, accompanied by the same pink lady that saved him earlier.

"Hello Princess. I was out how long exactly?" Derrick asked, walking over to her with Dazzle following him.

"4 hours, 3 minutes and 55 seconds." Gruff supplied as he stepped into the room. His skin was a dark grey and his mane looked like it had been lit on fire with how brilliant of an orange it was.

"There you go. Considering how hard he hit you, you should've been out at least another four to five hours." Cadence said and stepped out of the doorway and back into the corridor beyond. "Now, if you'd like to come with me, I would like to ask you a few questions. My husband would like to meet you as well." Cadence said and strolled down the hall, expecting for Derrick to follow.

"Okaaay." Derrick said slowly and immediately began following her. Hearing the sound of clanking crystal behind him, he turned and continued walking backwards. "Who's her husband?"

"Her husband is _Prince_ Shining Armor. He is the brother of Twilight Sparkle, who in turn is the esteemed student of _Princess_ Celestia herself." Gruff said with a slight tear in his eye.

"Yes, yes. Everyone knows you hold royalty in the highest esteem possible." Dazzle said, giving him a light slap upside his head. "At least tone it down in front of the guest." She added.

"I will not. He needs to know just how much regard I hold for the royalty of Equestria." Gruff said in a huff.

"Alright, jeez." Dazzle said and walked up to Derrick, who had turned back around.

"Why does he talk like that?" Derrick asked with a bored expression.

"Like what?" Dazzle asked confusedly.

"The way he emphasises the words 'prince' and 'princess'. It's just so … grating." Derrick answered through clenched teeth as Gruff Voice prattled on and on about how it was royalty this or royalty that. "What did Cadence mean when she said that I was meant to be out for another four or five hours?" Derrick asked, knowing that him not using a title would only infuriate Gruff.

"Exactly that. You weren't meant to wake up this quickly." Cadence said over her shoulder. "I don't mind you calling me Cadence, either but at least use my title when in public." She addressed Derrick and looking out the corner of his eye, he swore he could see Gruff glare at him but it was gone as he immediately went back to a stern but neutral gaze.

Derrick thought about how he could've possibly gotten up a lot more quicker than expected. If he could use flames from his hand and feet as well as drool fire, then maybe he got Natsu's durability as well. He couldn't dwell on it any further though as he heard two doors creaking open at the same time, making him forget about his musings for the time being. No sooner had he taken a step into the room, than a white blur stopped in front of him.

"Who are you, what do you want and why are you here?" The white person asked Derrick in rapid succession.

"Derrick, nothing and no idea." Derrick answered just as quickly, blinking in confusion. "Who are you?" He asked, stepping to the side. The white person stepped with him. Derrick noted that this particular person wore golden armor on his body without any crystallisation effects present on the metal. He also had a horn amidst the different shades of blue in his hair.

"This is Shining. Despite how he looks, he's the one that actually brought down that barrier around the city. Even now, he's trying to keep it up." Cadence said with a bright smile as she gave Shining an adoring look.

"He's your husband then?" Derrick asked as he looked at Shining with an incredulous look.

"What you giving me that look for?" Shining asked as he took a step back and placed a hand on Cadence's shoulder.

"What look?" Derrick asked.

"That look." Dazzle quipped, pointing to his face.

"This is the way I usually look." Derrick asked with a shrug. He heard Gruff sigh. Turning to him, he saw Gruff give a look that was identical to Derrick's. "Oh that look. I was just wondering why you all have different skin colours." Derrick said with a shrug. "Prince Shining Armor's skin looks like mine only a heck of a lot paler, Princess Cadence's skin is pink. Dazzle's skin is dark blue and Gruff Voice's skin is flat out grey." Derrick explained.

"That's just how we are." A third female voice said. Derrick walked to the side and found six more different coloured people with various layers of modern-looking clothes for the cold weather.

"Oh this is just great. More colours to assault my eyes with. Sooner or later I'm going to have a seizure attack." Derrick muttered and sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I'll figure this out later. Why is there a shield around the city?" He asked Cadence, ignoring the new voice.

"Because Sombra has returned." The voice said insistent on being listened.

"And who is this 'Sombra'?" Derrick asked while making quotation marks in the air when he said Sombra.

"He is not to be taken lightly." Cadence warned, moving Shining's hand off of her shoulder.

"That still didn't answer my question. If he's not to be taken lightly, then maybe I should punch his lights out." Derrick said with a grin, punching his fist into his palm for effect. As he did, a few flames erupted from the contact but quickly died out.

"That won't be necessary. We're trying to restore the Crystal Heart which is Sombra's one weakness." The voice spoke again and Derrick gave the female a hard look.

"What's your name?" Derrick asked her. He saw her blink and backtrack a bit.

"My name's Twilight Sparkle." She responded. Derrick smiled and breathed out.

"Does that mean you sparkle in the sunlight? No? Oh well. Would have been hilarious if you did." Derrick said to his stunned audience. "Is there anything else you can tell me about Sombra besides him being weak to some Crystal Heart?" Derrick asked, bringing the subject back a relevant one.

"That is all we know, unfortunately. The other thing is, is that he's been gone a thousand years and has only come back now." Cadence said recovering from the odd human.

"Uh huh." Derrick mumbled and moved to the balcony and took a look at the sprawling city of glittering crystal structures. Focusing on a couple of pillars that looked like the gateway to the city, he found a mini black speck of something. Without any regard for his safety, he leaped the balcony railing and fell five stories before landing on the ground in a crouched position, making a crater. Ignoring the gasps and screams of the ponies above him, he began running to what he saw at the gateway.

Sliding to a stop as he got near, Derrick picked up the crystal and felt a sudden jolt as his right hand automatically spazzed, clenching the black crystal tightly. "Augh! I can't get this thing off!" Derrick panicked and moved over to a pillar, smashing his hand against it in an effort to get his hand to unclench. "It's not working! Why can't I get it off!?" Derrick yelled through gritted teeth, flames spurting around the clenched hand sporadically as he kept banging it against the pillar. He flared his nostrils as he managed to break the pillar clean in half but the crystal was still attached to his hand.

Stopping his hand waving for a moment, he looked down at where he picked up the crystal and found a black and red coloured horn on the ground, which seemed to be growing another crystal. Not learning from just a few minutes ago, he picked the crystal up with his other hand but found it didn't attach itself. He dropped it and it cracked, making fractures spiderweb across the surface. "If that can crack just from being dropped, then why can't this one?" Derrick asked himself and proceeded to slam his hand against the other pillar this time. Repeatedly. When the other pillar broke, Derrick had enough of the crystal being attached so he did the next best thing. Throw fire at it.

"Karyu no Tekken*!" Derrick shouted as he gathered flames in his left fist and punched the crystal repeatedly, hoping to break it that way. The only result he got was a massive headache and a few bruises from the missed punches. "I really need to get this off before the- oh hell." Derrick groaned as he saw a shadow hover over him. Looking up, he found Gruff flying above him. "What do you want!?" Derrick shouted up at him.

"Princess sent me here to see why the pillars are broken." Gruff Voice said as he alighted down on the ground.

"The only reason why the pillars are broken is because I kept slamming my hand against them in an effort to dislodge this!" Derrick shouted angrily, waving the crystal-encased fist at Gruff. Gruff's eyes widened but other than that, his expression remained the same.

"If that's the case then maybe a spear could work?" Gruff asked monotonously, readying his spear. Derrick shrugged, not seeing any reason it wouldn't. Taking the shrug as sign of permission, Gruff pulled the spear back and thrusted it forward, hitting the crystal square on. The only thing the crystal did was separate the spear's head from its body.

Derrick hissed in pain as he looked at the crystal on his hand. He saw it slowly grow and the stop when it reached his wrist, completely encasing his hand in black crystal.

"We need to get you back to the Princess." Gruff commanded. Derrick flared his nostrils again but only nodded as he felt Gruff pick him up by the back of his vest and fly back to the castle.

Soon as he touched down, Gruff kept let go of Derrick, who stumbled forward and held his hand close to his chest. Ignoring everyone's questions, he stormed past them, leaving burnt footprints in his wake which led to the room he was in earlier. He left the door open but sat down on the bed with his back facing the door. He looked down at this hand and futilely tried to move it inside the crystal. Even though he could feel his hand move, it barely even twitched inside the casing.

"What was that about?"

Derrick whirled at the voice and found it belonged to Dazzle. She was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over her chest. "What was what about?" He asked, trying to play coy about it.

"Earlier. When Gruff flew you back inside, heck, even when you jumped the balcony!" Dazzle said, her arms now unfolded as she walked into the room.

Derrick sighed as he realised it wouldn't work. "When I jumped the balcony, I saw something extremely small near the gate. I didn't know what it was and I wanted a look at it. When I got there, I picked it up and this happened," Derrick showed his arm. The crystal had crept up slowly, stopping again halfway up his forearm. "I broke both entrance pillars trying to get my hand out of it, I even used flames to try and punch it off. When Gruff arrived, he tried to pierce it and break it off that way. The spear broke, leaving this undamaged. And when the spear broke, the crystal started growing around my hand but it's stopped for now." Derrick explained.

"Well that explains the pillars." Dazzle mumbled. "Princess Cadence needs to see this." Dazzle said and grabbing Derrick by the other arm, pulled him up and pulled him along the hall, back to the balcony.

When they arrived, the six people from before were nowhere to be seen but Shining Armor, Cadence, and Gruff Voice remained. Noticing him before he noticed them, the three of them walked up to Derrick and confronted him. "Why did you jump off the balcony?" Shining asked, leaning in close. Dazzle moved him out of the way though and told them what Derrick told her.

"Now that we understand the situation, we have to figure out a way for the crystal to stop growing, or failing that, at least slow it down." Shining said as he looked at the crystal arm with suspicion.

"Where's the sparkly vampire?" Derrick asked. Cadence looked at him for a moment but remembered his strange words from earlier.

"You mean Twilight Sparkle. She and her friends went searching for the crystal heart while setting up a festival at the same time." She informed Derrick who's eyes widened.

"A festival. You are hosting a festival while this Sombra is banging on your doorstep _and_ you have them searching for the crystal heart as well?" Derrick asked incredulously.

"That's pretty much it." Dazzle answered with a nod.

"And now we have my arm situation to deal with as well." Derrick added and moved backwards, stopping once he hit the balcony railing.

"You're going to jump again." Gruff said bluntly.

"You saw right through me. Before I jump, I want to know if I can help with anything." Derrick said.

"You can try and help with preparing the festivities." Cadence suggested.

"That'll do. I'll try and find one of the other people who I saw with Twilight to see if I can help out." Derrick said and jumping the balcony again with a salute, he felt his arm drag him down to the ground a lot faster than intended. As his arm crashed into the ground where he made his crater, he felt a shockwave travel up his body, making his teeth rattle in his skull. Righting himself, he ran in a random direction to see if he could help with any of the festivities.


	3. Crystal Fair Help Part 1

Sliding around a corner as he ran, Derrick saw one of Twilight's friends from earlier. It looked like one of the pink-haired ones. Running towards them, he skidded to a stop as he found her blowing some weird two-tubed horn. "What are you doing?" He asked her. The girl stopped her blowing at the question. She lowered it and looked at him, blinking a couple of times.

"Blowing this flugelhorn. What are you doing?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I am trying to see if I can help with anything. Do you need any help?" He asked and glanced at her clothes. He found that she was wearing a double-layered pink sweater with a group of three balloons emblazoned across the chest area. As for her legs, she wore a pair of snow jeans and some fur-lined boots which seemed strange, considering he thought that they some weird horse/person combination if their muzzles, manes and tails were anything to go by.

"You know, I do need help with getting a jester costume together. Think you can help with that?" She asked, smiling and tilting her head to the side slightly. She lowered the horn to her side, knowing that he would grab it again.

"A jester costume? Really?" Derrick asked with a raised eyebrow. "I'm not any good with needle and thread but I'll see what I can come up with." He sighed, seeing her nod enthusiastically. He pinched his nose and exhaled slowly. "You want me to make you a jester costume. That should be fine. The only thing is that I need your measurements." Derrick confirmed; blushing as he said the last part.

"Certainly!" The girl said happily and whispered the required measurements in Derrick's ear. He blushed when she mentioned her chest size but other than that, the measurements seemed good to him. Coughing as she finished, Derrick went to turn but remembered something.

"What's your name?" Derrick asked.

"Pinkie Pie! Good luck with the costume!" She said and went back to blowing the flugelhorn. "WAIT!" Pinkie shouted at him as he turned. Derrick turned back and tilted his head.

"What?" He asked.

"What's the matter with your hand?" Pinkie asked, pointing to the crystal that was now a little past his elbow. Holding it by his side, Derrick looked at it, then back at Pinkie.

"It's complicated." He said and ignoring any other the questions she may have had, Derrick started to walk away. Scratching his head, he left the girl to her bad musical skills and went off to find a tailor or something. After having walked around for a good couple of hours, he finally found a seemingly empty material booth.

Soon as he walked up though, a sickly looking, white-skinned female popped up out of the booth. She was wearing a white dress with blue diamonds in groups of three. The diamonds created a pattern that went all around her dress, creating a kaleidoscope effect as her dress shined in the sun. Putting his crystallised hand above his forehead, Derrick squinted and looked at the purple, coiffed hair of the woman as the light from the dressed bounced onto his crystal and scattered the beams in all directions.

"Hi. Is there any chance you can turn your dress off? It's giving me a headache." Derrick said as he tried to squint through the rays of light.

"Oh hello there, darling. I'm sorry I can't help you at the moment, I'm trying to help put the Crystal Fair in order so if you don't mind, I really need to get back to work." The woman said in a haughty manner.

"No, no. I need help in putting together a jester costume for someone named Pinkie Pie." Derrick said with a strained smile.

"Oh? Pinkie? She asked you to put a costume together?" Rarity said with a hint of jealousy in her voice. Derrick picked it up and tried to figure out if he could phrase his next sentence another way.

"She did. She told me what materials she wanted and what her measurements were even though I said I was no good with thread and needle." Derrick said as he finally let his arm relax, feeling it drop like a cannonball and banging into his side. He winced at that but the seamstress didn't seem to notice.

"Well if that's the case, then why don't you let me take over the job and you can go somewhere else?" She asked hopefully.

He put his crystal-free hand up to sign for her to stop. "Hang on a sec. What's your name?"

"Rarity." Rarity said with a small smile.

"Rarity. Nice to meet you. I'm Derrick. Princess Cadence asked me to help with the Crystal Fair in anyway I can, and if helping Pinkie make a costume is helping, then I don't see why you should take over the job." Derrick said with a hard glare.

"Well, um, oh. If Princess Cadence sent you to help, then by all means, take whichever materials you need." She said with a quick laugh, and then letting Derrick take whichever materials he needed.

"Thank you." Derrick said politely and took his handful of materials to a nearby bench. Feeling around his clothes, he realised he didn't have any needle and thread. "Uhm, not sure if you'll give me it, but I need thread and needle." Derrick said with a sheepish smile. He saw Rarity give a huff and levitated a spool of black thread and a very pointy needle over to him, making sure to jab him in the palm of his hand as he grabbed the items.

"Ouch." Derrick muttered and sat down to work, shaking his hand to get rid of the pain. Managing to balance the needle between the crystal and the table, he threaded the needle and picked it up before it fell to the ground. Silently putting the needle through the first couple of coloured patches, he looped it by going under and over. When he got to the end of a seam, he pulled it tight, burnt the freed end of by lighting a small fire with his finger and fed more thread before starting the process over again.

Soon enough, he got about half the costume done, making sure to keep muttering the measurements under his breath all the while to keep them fresh in his mind. After a few hours of gruelling, non-stop work, he got the costume done. Wiping a bit of sweat off his brow, Derrick stood up and walked over to Rarity, showing her his work.

"Well?" Derrick asked, keeping his face neutral.

Rarity pulled a face and leaned back a bit. "Well it definitely screams 'Pinkie'. I'm sure she will enjoy it." Rarity said, turning a bit green at the shoddy stitchwork.

"That's good to hear." Derrick said and nodded, carefully folding it up and walked back to where he thought he remembered Pinkie's location was. As he did, he automatically swing his arms, unknowingly showing the crystal one off. Rarity saw it and wondered how it had gotten like that.

"Excuse me! Derrick?" She called out. Derrick glanced her way and shuffled around, automatically keeping his arm from sight.

"What is it?" He asked with a groan.

"What's the matter with your arm? It's unusual to see something like that." Rarity answered, pointing to the aforementioned arm.

"None of your business." Derrick responded and set a fast pace as he made a beeline for Pinkie's last known location.

Still finding Pinkie blowing on her flugelhorn, Derrick strolled up and presented her with her costume. "Here you are. One jester costume as ordered." Derrick said with a grin.

"It's perfect!" Pinkie said in glee, clapping her hands together. "I'll try it right now!" Pinkie said in delight and ran off somewhere to change into her costume. While she was doing that, Derrick placed his hand on his other one and tried to forcefully break it again. "Karyu no Akugeki*." Derrick whispered, feeling his energy pool at the palm of his hand. Releasing it, he forcefully pushed into the crystal but it didn't even make a crack.

Sighing in anger, he moved to a nearby wall and managed to place the crystallised arm flat on the wall. "Karyu no Enchu!**" He shouted at his hand, feeling the flames burst out from his elbow but seeing no reaction from the crystal on the outside. He felt the crystal pushing forward and eventually making a hole in the wall but there was still no crack in it. "What's this crystal made of!? Tadanite? Adamantium? What!?" Derrick shouted desperately at his hand. Pulling his arm out of the wall, he found the crystal had gone halfway up his bicep, stopping just short of the tattoo. He was too busy studying his arm to see a terrified child hiding in the corner of the room he had punched a hole into.

"This is a bit tight in the chest but that's fine." Pinkie mumbled as she tried to adjust the costume to make it fit more comfortably. The mishmash of colours in the different patches suited her personality perfectly. She would have to apply the eye make-up later. Feeling that it fit rather comfortably, she looked out the mouth of the alley at a shout. Seeing Derrick force his black arm into a wall, she ran out and tried to get him to stop. "Why did you punch a hole in the wall?" She asked as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Because I can't get this stupid crystal to stop growing!" Derrick shouted at her.

"Growing?" Pinkie asked. She looked closely at his arm and found that it certainly was growing but it seemed to be going at a snail's pace. "Have you told the Princess?" She asked, placing a hand under her chin, making it look like she was thinking some deep thoughts.

"Yes. They said to help you guys with the Crystal Fair while they tried to find out why this even happened in the first place." He said angrily, although he had gone from shouting to speaking rather loudly.

"Hmmm. We need to get you to Twilight." Pinkie said and grabbing the crystal, she pulled him along. "She should be at the library." Pinkie said as they ran. Derrick looked down and found that she had no shoes on.

"How big is the library?" He asked as his arm slipped out of her grasp. He immediately began running himself to stay side by side with her.

"BIG." Pinkie said and meant it. "Think about the biggest library you've seen and then times that by a bagillion. That's how big it is." Pinkie continued and turned the corner, forcing the Dragon Slayer to slide around by hooking his palm around a pole and spinning around it.

"That is … big." Derrick gulped. Seeing that she had stopped, Derrick tried to stop but instead, flailed his legs as he tripped and fell on his back. Groaning in pain, he stayed down a few moments, trying to get his breath back. Turning his head, he saw Pinkie lean down and offer him a hand up. Taking it, she pulled him up quickly and held his shoulders as he steadied himself. "Thanks." Derrick said and stomped up the stairs to what he assumed was the library.

"Wrong one. It's behind you." Pinkie said with a giggle and bounded up the set of steps on the other side of the street. Exhaling, he climbed down and headed into the library. He whistled as he looked around at all the books.

"That is a lot of books." He said in awe.

"Of course they are, Captain is trying to figure out the Crystal anthem so that we can all learn it in time for the fair tomorrow." Pinkie explained, hiding a smile behind her hand at Derrick's glare. "Where did those flames come from anyway?" Pinkie asked casually as she hopped down the stairs. Derrick followed at a slower pace as he examined the books.

"No idea, to be perfectly honest. I guess you could say I make them." He said absently.

"Make them? Without any magic?" Pinkie asked as she jumped past the second floor landing and landed neatly on the steps to the lower floor.

"No, it is magic. I say a spell and it conjures up a few flames. It helps that I can create them at will, even if my magic drains a bit." He explained as he jogged down the steps to catch up to the overly-exuberant girl.

"So you can create these flames with magic?" Pinkie asked, clasping her hands behind her as she stopped on the bottom floor of the building.

"I guess. There's no knowing about it as magic is extremely hard to explain." Derrick said as he unsuccessfully crossed his arms over his chest. Pinkie simply shrugged, her answers having been sated for now. She lead Derrick throughout the numerous bookshelves and as he glimpsed through one, he swore he saw a blue-haired girl in a sun yellow dress speed reading a book.

"Here's Twilight!" Pinkie said grandly as she showed her friend off.

"You!" Both Derrick and Twilight shouted at the same time, pointing fingers at one another.

"You jumped off the balcony!" Twilight shouted at him, a very surprised look on her face at seeing him alive. "That must have been at least five stories high! How did you survive it?" Twilight asked him, adjusting the light pink glasses on her face.

"How can I say this? I appear to have the durability of a dragon." Derrick suggested, hoping he didn't sound like a madman to these girls.

"OF COURSE!" Pinkie shouted, causing one of the people behind a bookcase to shush her. Ignoring them, Pinkie put her finger up in the air. "That explains the flames!" She said to the both of them.

"Yeah, well, that still doesn't explain this!" Derrick retorted, showing her his arm which was now completely covered in crystal. It appeared to have stopped at his neck, not wishing to advance any further for now.

"You certainly didn't have that the last time we saw you. How did it happen?" Twilight asked in concern, her questions about him having draconic properties shelved away in her mind for now.

"I don't want to talk about it." Derrick said through gritted teeth.

"Why not?" Twilight pressed.

"Because I don't!" Derrick shouted, his body bursting into flames at the anger directed to the crystal covering his entire right arm.

Both Pinkie and Twilight backed away quickly to stop themselves from getting burnt by the sheer amount of heat he was giving off, let alone the fire itself.

"Derrick, calm down!" Twilight said, covering her eyes at the brightness of the flames.

"No. I need to get this crystal off and everything I've tried to do to get it off hasn't been able to help." Derrick said coldly. Both girls could hear how much hurt and anger were in his voice. Both of their eyes widened though when the word 'WATER***' popped up behind Derrick. It transformed into a ball of light and flew towards him. When it touched his flames, it immediately turned to water, simultaneously drenching him and dousing his flames.

"Wh-who did that?" Twilight asked in shock. She ran behind Derrick but couldn't see anybody. "There's nobody here." Twilight said in confusion.

"There she is!" Pinkie said triumphantly and ran after a blue-haired girl in a sun yellow dress.


	4. Crystal Fair Help Part 2

Laughing while being chased, Levy looked behind her to find the pink-haired girl running after her. Turning a corner, she turned back and threw her arms wide, shouting 'HOLE*' as she did. The word spread out on the ground in front of her and as the girl ran around the bend, Levy saw her ear twitch. Jumping just on the edge of the trap, the girl with the gaudy jester costume moved her arms apart and tackled the surprised Levy.

"How?" Levy coughed as she struggled to get out from underneath the girl.

"Pinkie Sense. That's how!" Pinkie said happily, straddling her as she kept the blue head down.

"I don't get it." Levy said as she tried to wriggle out from underneath her captor.

"There's nothing to get! I feel something twitch in my body and I react accordingly." Pinkie said simply, ignoring the girl's wriggling.

"Woah!" Twilight shouted as she fell into the hole that Levy made earlier. Pinkie bent over backwards to see a cloud of dust come out of a hole.

"So that's what I jumped over!" Pinkie said as she rolled backwards and into the hole.

"Ow! Pinkie! Get off me!" Twilight said in a huff as she felt Pinkie squish the air out of her.

Listening to the both of them argue made Levy get up and tiptoe away, knowing that they would be occupied for a bit.

In another part of the library, Shining was looking up books on crystal magic, to see if he could try and find something to help that newcomer. This time, he had changed out of his guard uniform and into a sweatshirt with his cutie mark of a shield with a magenta star in the middle. He only wore some light-blue, fur-lined slacks for pants. His horn wasn't glowing as he had switched the shield spell over to Cadence, therefore making the shield a different colour and earning him a rest.

"Not in that book." Shining muttered as he stood up and got another book from the shelf. "Twilight should be in this library somewhere. Maybe she can help me." Shining said as he held the book in his hand and began wandering around the gigantic library. Soon enough, he came upon a hole in the floor, nearly falling into it but what saved him where the voices of Pinkie and Twilight.

"Twily?" Shining called out. The voices stopped and then he heard a foot stomp. Looking down, he found both Twilight and Pinkie standing close together in the hole. "What are you doing down there?" He asked, kneeling down to help them up.

"I ran around the corner to try and catch up to Pinkie when I fell in." Twilight said as she climbed out. She saw her brother pull Pinkie out of the hole as well. "How are we going to fix that?" Twilight asked, pointing to the obvious hazard.

"I know!" Pinkie said and rushed off to someplace, only to rush back and begin putting nails and wood over the hole at a fantastic rate. Soon enough, she was done and grinned proudly. "There we go. All done!" She said with a tah-dah gesture to the now-covered hole.

They both clapped and Shining turned to Twilight. "Twily, I need help in trying to find a solution to Derrick's crystal arm problem. Do you think you can-" He was stopped by a terrific shout.

" _AHHH! I JUST ATE FIRE!_ "

"That would be Derrick." Pinkie said and ran off in that direction with Shining and Twilight close on her heels.

* * *

After Levy had tiptoed away, she ran back to where she had found the guy that was on fire. When she reached the place, she found him scratching at his pink hair with barely a scorch mark on him. As the man turned around to have a look at the books, Levy found that he had a Fairy Tail mark but it was covered with some sort of black crystal. Walking up to him, she tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hmm?" Derrick asked, looking down to see a blue head. His jaw dropped as he recognised the clothes and face. "No way." He said in disbelief. "Levy?" He asked.

"Do you know me?" Levy asked, looking at him oddly.

' _Oh wow this is awkward._ ' Derrick thought and sighed.

"Sorry. Must have been thinking of someone else who has the same name. I'm Derrick." He said and stuck his hand out for Levy to shake it.

After shaking it, Levy heard a growl come from him. "You okay there?" She asked.

"I'm fine, just hungry. For some reason though, I feel like I should eat fire. Do you have any?" Derrick asked slowly as he tried to work out why he was feeling like that at the same time.

"Not sure why but okay. If that's what you want." Levy answered with a raised eyebrow. Pullin some sort of pen out of her pocket, she wrote the word 'FIRE**' in the air. As she finished and put the pen away, the word lit up in a burst of flames.

Thanking her, Derrick concentrated and sucked in the air surrounding the word, making it go into his body. When he finished, he patted his belly and then realised what he had done and screamed. When he had finished, Levy looked at him with her hands covering her ears.

"You scream loudly." She said calmly, taking her hands off her ears.

"You. You seem very calm for someone who had just witnessed fire eating." Derrick said, just as calm.

"I could say the same to you." Levy retorted and crossed her arms over her chest. "What's with the arm?" She asked, pointing to the crystal.

Derrick touched it and followed it with his hand, finding it had spread across his chest and began going down his other shoulder however it did shrink slightly as his body absorbed the flames he ate. "It's … a long story. I'll tell you some other time." He said softly as they both heard running footsteps at that moment. They turned to see Pinkie running in with Shining and Twilight on her heels.

"You three okay?" Derrick asked, noticing that Twilight's hair was in a dishevelled state.

"We're fine. The important thing is are _you_ okay?" Twilight asked. "We heard you scream halfway across the library." She added.

"I appear to be fine. I feel a bit better anyway." Derrick said with a shrug.

"You definitely don't look better! In fact, you look worse than when we left you!" Twilight said in protest as she fussed over him and the crystal slowly inching its way across his body.

"You!" Pinkie shouted and went to tackle Levy again. This time, Levy stepped to the side with another Hole spell appearing on the ground just as Pinkie touched it. She fell in and then looked up at her. "What is up with these holes? He has fire magic and you have hole-y magic." Pinkie pointed to Derrick and then to Levy, not even realising she had made a pun.

"I don't just have hole magic. I have other magic as well." Levy said and demonstrated by thrusting her right arm out and shouting the word 'STONE***'. The word materialised and plummeted like a rock on top of Pinkie's head. The word cracked down the middle as a giant bump formed on top of her head.

"Ouch." Pinkie said as she rubbed the bump, not noticing the word on either side of her in the hole. Levy stood there with an equal face of surprise and shock.

"You are something else." Levy breathed.

"Twilight, I feel fine. I'm just not sure about this crystal, is all. While I'm here, do you need help with the fair?" Derrick asked as he patted his hand against his crystal one.

"I do but that's not-" Twilight was interrupted by Pinkie. She looked in her direction and found in another hole however this one had a stoned word in it.

"Not important!? You need to help these people and free them from Sombra's mind control!" Pinkie said as she jumped out of the hole. Looking back at where she just was, Pinkie proceeded to cover up the hole like she did with the other one. Wood.

"Where did you get the wood from? There's only crystal around here from what I remember." Derrick asked as he beheld the sight of Pinkie work overtime to cover the hole up in just a few seconds.

"I have my ways. Derrick wants to help doesn't he? Let him help." Pinkie continued on from where she had left off.

"But-" Twilight protested but was cut off by Shining.

"No buts, Twily. Pinkie is right. We need to think of the citizens of the Empire. I told you that Cadence and I were busy working on finding a cure for that crystal growth Derrick has." Shining interjected and gave Twilight a stern look before she relented.

"Fine. Derrick and … what's your name?" She asked, blinking at Levy.

"I'm Levy. Nice to make your acquaintance." Levy said and shook Twilight's hand.

"Pleasure to meet you as well. I want the both of you to head back out and try to fashion a crystal heart out of … well, crystal." Twilight finished.

"We can do that." Derrick and Levy said at the same time.

"Good. I'll finish trying to learn the Crystal Anthem. I think Fluttershy is okay with bringing some crystal yues for the petting zoo and Rainbow Dash is fine with trying to keep the weather nice and sunny. Rarity is making costumes and-" Twilight was once again interrupted, but this time by Derrick, and was starting to get ticked off with it. "What?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"I ran into Rarity and she didn't seem to like me using her materials for Pinkie's costume. But she seemed to be doing fine on her own." Derrick said and trailed off at the end as he saw Twilight's left eye began to twitch. "I'll … shut up for now." Derrick added lamely.

"Thank you. Pinkie is alright, actually, can you help me with the anthem? It will be better with two people rather than me on my own." Twilight asked Pinkie, who nodded and skipped over to her side. "Applejack is helping set up the various stalls so after you're finished with the heart, see if Applejack needs a hand with that." Twilight finished and turned to the table where she was reading before this whole mess started. Pinkie sat down next to her, leaving the others to fend for themselves.

"Hey, um, Derrick. I have the guards helping out Applejack with the stalls so you can both focus on the making the crystal heart." Shining said helpfully and walked away to look for a few books, seeing that Twilight couldn't help him.

"Okay, Levy. You heard the Unicorn. Let's see if we can make a crystal heart." Derrick said and marched off to the entrance. Levy ran to catch up with him.

"Why do you have the Fairy Tail mark?" She asked.

"The mark?" He blinked and looked at his right bicep. There definitely was a red tattoo there but it was magnified because of the crystal. "Oh. I have this because this was meant to be a costume. I got transported here and I seem to be stuck with it." Derrick quickly explained as they climbed the stairs.

"That would explain why I haven't seen you around the guild before." Levy said in response as they slowed to a walked when they got outside. Looking left and right for a bit, Derrick tried to find a suitable chunk of crystal to fashion while Levy tried to find a place to fashion said crystal. "Let's actually try walking around." Levy suggested and Derrick agreed, not being able to think of any better ideas.

"You mentioned a guild. You mean the Fairy Tail guild?" Derrick asked with excitement in his eyes. Levy nodded.

"Yeah, that's the one. I'm actually here on a job to try and help out a suddenly appearing city with its library troubles. It called for a solo so I decided to come alone, much to the protest of my teammates. I'm part of a team called Shadow Gear and the team consists of me, Jet and Droy. I do most of the book-related jobs while they just cheer me on." Levy said with a wave of her hand and finally finding a chunk of crystal that looked good enough to fashion for what they needed, she grabbed it and held it in both hands.

"We need to find someplace to fashion this properly. Wait. You seem to be taking this like it's a stroll in the park. Didn't what I just say about this being a costume confuse you at all?" Derrick asked in confusion. The blue-haired girl next to him merely shrugged.

"It's nothing considering what Fairy Tail and Equestria go through on a daily basis. You just happen to be another weird thing to happen to this world." Levy answered.

They both fell quiet after that and resorted to a somewhat companionable silence as they searched for some sort of forge or something. Eventually coming across one on the other side of the city, Derrick looked up to find the sun was slowly going below the horizon. He watched Levy place the crystal on the anvil, finally letting her arms rest from having to carry it for the fifth time after switching back and forth with Derrick.

"We need some heat so that it will be easy to chisel away at it." Levy said and prepared to write in the air. Derrick held up a hand though to stop her and lit up his hand on fire.

"Allow me." Derrick said and focusing on the flames, intensified the heat to practically melt the anvil underneath it. Cringing a bit, Levy began to slowly chisel away to form the heart as well as the stand it goes on. By the time Levy had finished, Derrick's hand was shaking as the crystal was now halfway down his left arm, stopping just below the elbow with the crystal on his chest having been moved down to stop just before it reached his abdomen.

"Crystal Heart's done." Levy said and wiped sweat from her brow. She gave Derrick a smile before looking at the crystal. "Uuh, Derrick, the crystal has grown even more." Levy stated, pointing at him.

"You think I don't know that? I can definitely feel it on my body and now, I can barely even feel my right hand moving. It may not look like it had moved on the outside, but I definitely moved my hand on the inside of it." Derrick said as he sighed sadly. "Anyway, let's just- OOF!" Derrick was suddenly knocked backwards and into the ground by what looked like an iron pillar that was attached to the roof that definitely wasn't there before.


	5. Aliens and Magic Part 1

Holding his head from the blow, Derrick sat up and rubbed the sore spot, nearly bumping into the iron pillar again. Feeling something smack into his head, Derrick cringed and felt something fall into his lap. He looked down and found it was a black and green cylinder with a button on top. Standing up with a raised eyebrow, he held it and heard a message sound in his head.

' _I am the changer of shape, seeking to understand the many forms of life. Call for the man of many shapes during your hour of need and I will come, a one man army. Activate the cylinder and in a flash, I'll be ready to clash._ '

"It rhymed. Here goes nothing." Derrick said bluntly and pushed the button on top of the cylinder. There was a bright green flash and two figures appeared, one seemed to be a slightly older human male, locked in a sword fight with a strange insect like humanoid. Derrick looked at the fight and immediately made flames appear on his hand.

"You're fighting. Why are you fighting?" He asked, increasing the brightness of the flames a little bit.

The man held his hand up, his opponent pausing. "I suggest you put that flame out." He turned to Derrick, looking him over.

Derrick closed his fist, causing the flame to go out. "There. You didn't answer my question though." He said, placing his hand on his hip.

"Sparring, and now that I see we've been summoned, I do believe the match is over." He flicked his sword, causing the sword to collapse in on itself. He stored it in his pocket, looking at the insect. "That sound good?"

"Yeah, that sounds great..." she, from the sound of her strange, echoey voice, said, stabbing her greatsword into the ground, panting a little.

"Sparring. That didn't look like sparring to me. What are you names?" Derrick asked, scratching his head and ignoring the echoey quality of her voice for now.

"I'm Jason Hughes and this is my daughter Freya."

"Hi." Freya waved, still trying to catch her breath.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Derrick." Derrick introduced himself and looked at the both of them. "I don't mean any offense but Freya doesn't look anything like you."

"I'm a shapeshifter," Jason said with a shrug, "So, any reason you called me out here?" he leaned on a wall, eyeing Derrick with a raised eyebrow.

"Shapeshifter. That would explain it then. I don't think there was a reason." Derrick answered but immediately ducked as another iron pillar was shot through the entrance, embedding itself in the wall behind him. "That may be a reason?"

"The hell was that?" Jason asked, looking at the pillar, then at the entrance.

Standing in front of the entrance was a man with iron-studded gloves and boots. He wore a black and grey cloak and off-white baggy pants. He had black hair with what looked like iron bolts embedded in his arm and face.

"That would be Gajeel. The Iron Dragon Slayer." Derrick said as he got up from where he ducked and went to stand beside and Jason and Freya.

"Did I get pulled into another anime?" Jason asked with a sigh, facepalming, "I swear, I better not get punched into a planet again."

"Again? What happened the first time?" Derrick asked in surprise.

"I had to fight Broley." Jason answered simply.

"Geh hee." The man at the entrance said with a wide, toothy smile. He said something else under his breath and transformed his arms into long, metal poles which he spun around in a circular motion. Derrick jumped on to the nearby table when he saw Gajeel begin to spin.

"How tough is this guy exactly?" Jason asked, not seeming the least bit impressed.

"He can bring down an entire guild and force them into hiding. A guild has about hundred or so people in them. He is ranked the strongest in his own guild." Derrick answered. "There are basically four levels within the guild. C, B, A and S. S class is the strongest and Gajeel is an S class wizard." Derrick explained further, noticing the look on their faces.

"Right, ok." Jason nodded. "I don't exactly know what's your problem, wizard, but I suggest you reconsider it."

"I don't want to reconsider it. I'm doing this because my master said so and plus, it's fun." Gajeel answered and, muttering something else under his breath, puffed his cheeks out and let loose a silvery-grey roar that was full of miniscule bits of iron. Jason swept his arm out, erecting a wall of ice that easily stopped the attack.

Derrick looked at Jason with raised eyebrows but not bothering with any questions, ran out from behind the ice wall. Filling his fist with fire, he ran up to Gajeel and punched him in the face. It didn't have any effect though as Gajeel's skin turned into iron at the moment of impact. He grinned and picking up Derrick, threw him at the ice wall.

"I gotcha." Freya's horn glowed, wrapping Derrick up in her blood red magic. "Just let my dad handle it." She set him back on his feet, now standing next to her.

"Thanks, Freya." Derrick thanked her and shook his hand, trying to get rid of the pain of nearly breaking his hand.

Gajeel got an angry look when Freya caught him with her magic. Walking towards the group, he stopped in front of the ice wall and tilting his head to the side for a bit, grinned and mumbling something, turned his hand into a spear. He thrusted the spear through the wall, making a hole in it.

"Having fun?" Jason asked, having suddenly appear behind Gajeel, "I don't even know why you're smiling. You can break ice, almost every living thing can do that."

"I'm smiling because I am having fun. I live for this sort of thing." Gajeel said, taking his arm out of the wall and whirling around to bash Jason with the spear head. Jason just stood there, not even flinching as the spear hit him, though a large portion of his shaggy hair was severed. "What? Iron Dragon's Club!" Gajeel shouted, transforming his leg into a large, steel club and forcefully kicked Jason in the abdomen. Once more, Jason didn't even flinch.

"You are going to have to hit a fuck ton harder than that if you actually want to hurt me." Jason commented, looking down at him.

"Are you kidding me?" Gajeel asked in disbelief, stopping his attack for a second to eat a bit of iron off the floor. After finishing the iron, he wiped his mouth and clapped his hands above his head, fusing them into a giant sword. He then brought it down on top of Jason's head, intending to cleave him in two. The blade slammed into Jason head with a loud thunk. He winced ever so slightly, a trickle of blood running down his face.

"Alright, that stung." Jason pushed the blade aside, cracking his neck.

"That only stung him?" Derrick asked in surprise.

"Dad's descended from gods and giants, and that guy isn't exactly Grandpa Gilg." Freya shrugged, leaning on her sword. "In all honesty, the only reason that guy hasn't been vaporized or turned into ground beef is because Dad likes to make a good first impression."

Gajeel was equally surprised. "No way. No way you can survive my Iron God Sword." He said, getting a slightly scared look on his face. He backed up a bit and made the rest of his body turn into iron scales.

"Alright, I'll go easy on ya, Omnitrix, Rath." Jason vanished in a green flash, replaced by a very angry looking tiger man. "Rath is gonna tear you a new one!" he roared, snorting in rage.

"I would like to see you try." Gajeel said, not phased by the transformation. He got into a battle stance and waited. Rath let out a scream of rage, rush forward, throwing a punch at Gajeel's stomach. Gajeel blocked it with both arms crossed, the force of the punch making him slide back a few feet. When he stopped, he rushed at Rath and went for a punch to the throat.

"Ha! That tickled!" Rath declared, grabbing Gajeel's wrist, spinning around, and swinging him into a pillar before tossing him away. Gajeel landed halfway across the city, making a crater path into a few houses. Getting up almost immediately after, he jumped up high and made his way to Rath in leaps and bounds. Soon as he was on top of Rath, Gajeel shouted something and turned his legs into a giant drill. His legs then spun around at a rapid speed as he impacted into Rath. Rath brought his hands together, unleashing a shockwave, sending Gajeel flying backwards.

"Did that one tickle?" Gajeel asked as he flipped around, dragging his hand across the ground to stop himself.

"No, it was more like a bee sting!" Rath snarled, rushing forward. He leapt into the air, arms raised, falling towards Gajeel. In response, Gajeel leapt up into the air as well, transforming his arm into a giant sword and swung it towards Rath. "Omnitrix! NRG!" Rath shouted, turning into an armored form. The sword hit him in his armored head, letting out a loud dong but didn't do any damage.

When the sword hit, Gajeel's arm shook from the force of the blow. His arm went back to being covered in scales and when it did, he grabbed a hold of the armored head in both hands. "Metal! Thanks for the snack." Gajeel thanked him and began munching on the armor, only to break several of his teeth.

"Good luck with that idiot," Jason said, now sporting a Russian accent, "This armor can only be damaged by taydenite, the hardest substance in the universe."

Gajeel howled in pain, only to replace his teeth with sharp bits of iron. "That's better." Gajeel said, his voice having a metallic edge to it now. Releasing the head, he then fell like a rock, making a miniature crater as he landed. "I may not be able to damage it, but I can sure as hell try." Gajeel said with a smirk. Puffing out his cheeks again, he then blew iron wind towards the tinhead. It merely plinked off.

"You can't pierce it moron."

Gajeel's response to this was to scream loudly and rush at Jason, giving him quick alternating kicks and punches.

"He transformed. Twice. How?" Derrick asked Freya, his mouth hanging open slightly.

"What do you mean how?" Freya asked, looking at him, raising her eyebrow.

"He went from being a human, to a wrestling cat and then to a Russian bucket. You can't just switch forms like that!" Derrick answered, walking a bit away from her.

"Well he can, that's why he has the Omnitrix." Freya followed him, hefting her sword over her shoulder. "And dad isn't human, he's Jotun."

"Jotun. Like an Ice Giant thing from those Norse legends? That would explain the ice wall. And the Omnitrix explains the shifting forms. Now I get it." Derrick went and sat on the nearby table, looking out at the fight.

"You done yet?" Jason asked Gajeel, crossing his arms, "You're not getting anywhere."

Gajeel quit the punching and kicks at the question, feeling slightly out of breath. "I'm not, but why don't you try hitting me for a change?"

"You really don't want me to do that."

"And why not?" Gajeel asked, crossing his arms.

"Because I can vaporize you." Jason answered simply. Gajeel's face dropped at that.

"I've got iron scales made from my own body. It increases my strength and can increase my durability as well. I'm sure I can survive any blast you throw at me." Gajeel said seriously.'

Jason tapped the device on his chest, returning to his normal form. "Kaio Ken x200!" he shouted, becoming engulfed in a furious red aura. He assumed a stance, pulling his hands back. "Ka...me..."

"Hey uh...where are we exactly?" Freya asked, taking a step back.

"We're in the Crystal Empire. A shield is around the city, trying to keep Sombra out. I think, no, I know the shield will collapse when he unleashes that." Derrick said with wide eyes, immediately scooting back on the table.

"Seriously man, just give up." Freya cast a few quick spells on herself and Derrick, still backing away.

"Gajeel, she's right!" Derrick shouted at him, falling off the table and hiding behind it.

Gajeel merely growled at the both of them but after seeing the terrified look in their faces, he realised that maybe he shouldn't antagonise the guy any longer.

"Ha...Me..." Jason pulled his hands back further, a large sphere of energy forming in his hands.

Taking a breath, Gajeel steeled himself and braced for impact. "I can definitely take this blast." He growled to himself.

"Ha!" Jason vanished from view. A moment later, a loud explosion filled the air, and a massive blast of energy shot up into the sky. When Gajeel heard the blast, he opened his eyes and looked around. Seeing no-one was there, he then laughed.

"Hahaha! That's right! Run like a coward!" Gajeel said triumphantly.

"Boo." Jason had appeared behind him, still rocking the aura. Gajeel jumped a mile high at this, almost scared out of his wits. When he landed, he looked at Jason with wide eyes.

"Don't do that!" Gajeel growled.

"Are we done here?" Jason asked, crossing his arms, raising his eyebrow.

"With what you just did, yeah, we're done." Gajeel said in a sigh, disappointed at not being able to defeat him. His skin turned back to normal and he sat in slump. "I know when I'm beat."

"That was something." Derrick commented.

"What were you even trying to do anyway?" Jason asked, dropping the aura, though he was panting rather heavily now.

"Master told me to help out someone here. She must have run off after I knocked a pillar into him." Gajeel answered, pointing to Derrick. "Considering what he did to that anvil in the back of the shop there, he seemed like a good opponent to fight anyway." He tried to explain, and moved his finger from Derrick to the partially melted anvil.

"And who is your master?" Freya asked, placing her hand on her hip.

"Master Makarov. He is the master of the Fairy Tail guild." Gajeel answered with a shrug, stretching his arms into the air to get the kinks out of them.

"Are we cool now?" Jason asked Derrick, raising his eyebrow, "Because I'd rather go help them with Sombra than deal with this idiot."

"We're cool. I was meant to get the crystal heart back to Twilight when I was attacked by him." Derrick answered, moving over to the crystalline statue. "I can't exactly carry it by myself though." He said with a sheepish grin, showing the crystal covering his arm.

"How did that happen?" Freya asked, reaching out, rapping his knuckles against said crystal.

"When the shield came down, a bit of something from a smoke monster got cut off and landed on the ground. I went to see what it was and when I picked it up, this started happening. No idea how to stop it, or even slow it down. Princess Cadence and Shining Armor are helping me in figuring out how to though." Derrick explained, not feeling anything when she rapped against his arm. "It's spread to just above my stomach and just below my elbow on my other arm." He added, showing where the crystal was.

"Esuna." Jason held his hand out, casting a spell on Derrick. Derrick only raised an eyebrow as he felt nothing happen. Looking down at his body, the only thing that seemed to happen to the crystal was make it shrink slightly.

"Didn't work. What was that meant to do?" Derrick asked in confusion.

"It's supposed to remove harmful effects." Jason grumbled, looking at it. "I really hate Sombra's crystal magic..."

"I don't even know why it reacted the way it did. Maybe it's because I'm a Dragon Slayer now? Whatever the case may be, we still need to take this to Twilight and her friends." Derrick wondered and gestured to the crystal on the melted anvil.

Jason rolled his eyes, scooping up the heart. "Where are they?" he asked, gesturing for everyone to get close to him.

"Her friends are all over the place so the safest bet would be at the castle." Derrick said as he moved closer, thinking back to when Twilight had directed everyone to go to different places.

"I need the location of a specific person." Jason insisted.

"Oh. Well why didn't you say so? Twilight is down on the first floor of the library with Pinkie." Derrick said with confidence.

"Thank you." Jason rolled his eyes. He placed a hand on Derrick and Freya's shoulders before teleporting them to the library, appearing next to Twilight.

"Ah!" Twilight gasped at their sudden appearance.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Derrick muttered, turning slightly green.

"Oh suck it up ya wuss." Freya shook her head, looking at Twilight. "Hi Aunt Twi."

"Yeah, yeah. In a minute." Derrick said softly, waving his hand and moving a bit away from them.


	6. Aliens and Magic Part 2

"Hi … Why did you call me that?" Twilight asked, looking at the three of them with wide eyes.

"The crystal heart!" Pinkie said excitedly, having walked out from one the library shelves while reading a book. She had looked up and found the group with the heart in one of their hands.

"That's because in our world your her aunt," Jason explained, tossing the heart to Twilight, "Though, I very rarely ever come across unicorn Twilight..."

"In your world? I am a Unicorn though. See the horn?" Twilight said, pointing to the horn on her forehead after catching the heart in her magic.

"Yeah well, for the past fifteen years you've also had wings," he sat down, running a hand through his hair, "So, it's really weird seeing you as just a unicorn...on top of being anthro."

"Wings? That's not possible. Everyone knows that there are only three Alicorns in existence. Cadence, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna." Twilight counted off on her fingers.

"What's this anthro business?" Derrick asked, putting a hand up after having recovered from the teleportation. "Also, is your world where you came from when you walked out of that light?"

"Well actually it is possible Twilight," Jason argued, "I came to my Equestria three years after this point and I'm been there since, so about...eighteen years give or take."

"No, it's not! I wouldn't even know if getting permanent wings through magic would even work." Twilight argued back. "I'm not sure how it works in _your_ Equestria but it's just not possible here." She added, crossing her arms.

"Well, considering that 90% of all Twilight's get wings...I mean hell, my alicorn form is based off of you."

"Only 90%? If it was 99% I'd be more inclined to believe you. And if this Alicorn form is based off of me, then let me see it." Twilight said with a skeptic look.

"Omnitrix, Star Dust," Jason commanded, shifting into a four-legged alicorn. His coat was a deep green while his mane and tail were black with green stripes. "Ta-da!"

Both Twilight and Pinkie gasped at the form. "There is no way that is me. That's not even the right colour …" Twilight said with a bit of a laugh but it was clear that she was swayed a fair bit by Jason's transformation.

"The Omnitrix took a sample of your DNA and randomized it," Jason explained, "So in a way, I'm related to you through this form."

"That would explain why it's a different colour, but I'm still standing by the fact that it's not me because clearly, I'm not a pony." Twilight gestured to her body and raised her eyebrows

"Does the concept of the multiverse mean nothing to you?" Jason asked, getting annoyed.

"Of course it does. I've written several theories on the matter but that's all they are. Theories. I didn't think they were possible at all." Twilight sounded a little hurt.

Welp, it's not a theory, it's all real." Jason shifted back, crossing his arms. Twilight leaned back in her seat and chewed on her bottom lip for a bit, thinking about the possibility.

"If it's all real, then that would mean that there are multiple Equestrias but they would all be different in their own way. You're from one of them?" Twilight said slowly, looking at Jason.

"Bingo, but ours is even more different, considering Faust created Equestria out of what was left of Asgard."

"Your Equestria is Asgard? So does that mean the Norse gods and goddesses exist there as well?" Derrick asked him with wide eyes.

"They did but Ragnarok was millions of years ago, only 'god' left is Hel, my grandmother," Jason explained, "And I'm one of the last jotun remaining."

"That's gotta suck. You doing anything about your species going extinct?"

"I have kids," Jason gestured to Freya, who waved, "And this." He held up the device on his right arm.

Twilight looked over to Freya and waved back hesitantly. "She doesn't really look like you, to be honest. And I don't think that device on your wrist can give you kids." Twilight pointed to his wrist.

He sighed, pinching his nose. "One, I'm a shapeshifter, secondly, this thing houses the DNA of over a million species and be used to bring any of those species back from extinction."

"What, really? How does it work then?" Twilight asked, her eyes lighting up at that.

"I have no idea, I've never used it like that before." He shrugged. "Unless you mean taking samples."

"It can take samples too?" Twilight asked excitedly.

"Freya, do you know what that thing I used to summon you was?" Derrick asked her, scratching the back of his head.

"That's my dad's token." She turned to look at him. "It's a unitrix, a prototype of the Omnitrix, that thing on my dad's wrist."

"A token. This can be used to summon him at any time?" Derrick idly rubbed his arm as he looked at Jason as well.

"Yeah, but you have to remember, he has a life of his own ya know," she reminded, "Geez, I wish I brought a change of clothes, this armor is squeezing my chitin way too much."

"I know, I know, just wondering theoretically. You couldn't get some armor that was a bit more loose?" Derrick asked as he leaned back against the wall.

"No duh," she retorted, rolling her eyes.

"No Twilight it can't sample you," Jason informed the excited unicorn, taking a seat at her table.

"Aww. Why not?" Twilight asked, her face falling at that. "Is it because it already has the DNA from the Twilight in your Equestria?"

"No, it's because I already have the scan of an anthro unicorn, another Equestria's version of Starswirl, now if you find me a species not in the Omnitrix, I'll show you how it scans."

"Is the DNA of a Dragon Slayer in there? I look human, I know, but my body can handle fire. I can actually eat fire and not get burned." Derrick asked, explaining the ways he wasn't human.

"That doesn't mean you're not human," Jason said, rolling his eyes, "We're way off topic, remember, Sombra trying to get in?"

"Right. The rest of my friends had checked in and said that they were all finished. Pinkie and I have learned the anthem with the heart, we're good to go for the fair. We just have to report back to Cadence."

"Good ole' Caddy," Jason smiled, "Tell her to let him in."

"Why? From what I hear, apparently he's bad news." Derrick questioned.

"I said, let him in, I'll handle it in a way that doesn't end with him getting executed by the heart."

"If you're sure about that then follow me." Twilight said, getting up and walking towards the entrance. He nodded, getting up, following after her.

Derrick leaned away from the wall and followed them, wincing a bit as he felt the crystal grow slightly.

"You ok there?" Freya asked, walking up behind him, sword over her shoulder.

"I'm fine." Derrick asked as his hand involuntarily clenched against the pain. "Let's just get to the castle. Word of advice though, don't antagonise Gruff Voice. He's one of Cadence's guards and will bop you over the head if you do." Derrick advised her. "Is that sword not heavy to you or something?" He asked, looking at the sword on her shoulder.

"Please," she said with a giggle, which sounded odd with her echoey voice, "I can lift up to a ton easily."

"Only a ton? Then how heavy is that sword?" He asked with a pained smile.

"Eh, twenty pounds." She shrugged nonchalantly.

"That all? Thought it would have been heavier." Derrick said with a small hand wave as they started to climb up the stairs. "So what's this token thing you mentioned? I know it's what I used to summon your dad here but do you know if there is more to it than that?"

"Not really. Most Displaced have a token but some don't make them as they just want to be left alone." She explained. "So, how long have you been here?"

"Twelve hours. From what I can tell with the sun and all." Derrick shrugged. "So Displaced is … what?"

"If you want the whole story talk to my dad, he's the actual Displaced in the family." She shrugged. "I'm just glad I'm not one."

"I'll be sure to do that then. Soon as he's finished with Sombra." Derrick said, nudging open the front door with his shoulder.

"The castle is this way. See? Straight down here." Twilight said, leading the group towards the crystal castle in the distance.

"Twilight, I had my wedding here, I know where I'm going." Jason rolled his eyes. "Thank you though."

"Oh. Sorry." Twilight apologised. "Forgot you were from a future version of Equestria? That right?" She asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Yup." He nodded, looking up at the castle. "Still pretty though."

"Mhm. What are you going to do to stop Sombra?" Pinkie asked as she clasped her hands behind her back.

"You'll see, it's a surprise." He smirked. "You'll just have to wait and see."

"Aww. You know I don't like surprises unless I'm the one giving the surprise!" Pinkie said as her face drooped a bit.

"Too bad."

Pinkie simply poked her tongue out at him in protest.

"I really hope Gruff doesn't bop me over the head for going missing for the whole day." Derrick grumbled as he glared at the castle, or rather, one of the guards standing on the balcony.

"You'll be fine," Jason said, giving a dismissive hand wave. He put a hand on Twilight's shoulder. "The rest of you put your hand on my back."

Pinkie immediately placed a hand on top of Jason's head with a massive smile. Derrick though, managed to grab the back of Jason's top as he couldn't move his arm up and down anymore. Freya placed her hand on his shoulder. A moment later, they were on the balcony, startling the guards. One of the guards immediately whacked Derrick on the head, not phased in the slightest by their sudden appearance.

"Ow." Derrick muttered. "Jason and Freya, this is Gruff Voice." Derrick introduced them as he endured the throbbing on his head. "Gruff Voice, this is Jason and Freya."

"Hello." The guard said gruffly.

"Sup?" Jason asked. "Where's Caddy and Shiny? Throne room I take it?"

Gruff's eye twitched as Jason gave nicknames. "Yes, they are. Do you need me to escort you?"

"You shouldn't have called Cadence and Shining Armor nicknames. Gruff takes his position as a member of the guard very seriously and holds them in the highest esteem possible." Another guard, this one a female, said with a smile.

"Yeah? I'm a prince of Equestria too, fucks your point?" he asked, moving past Gruff, heading toward the throne room.

"You may as well hear this as well as this is news to me too." Derrick said and beckoned the two guards that spoke to follow them. Twilight and Pinkie followed Jason, unsure of what else to do.

"So new plan" Jason announced as he entered the throne room, "Caddy, let Sombra in."

Cadence looked up at him with sullen eyes. "Why would I do that? I'm doing everything I can to _not_ let him in." She said as she saw the people walk in behind him.

"Because I can stop him without killing him."

"How will you do that?" She asked. "I'm not going to let down the shield unless you give me a really good reason to do so."

Jason sighed, holding his hand up, casting a spell, putting Cadence to sleep. "Relax, it's just a sleep spell, she needed it anyways." Jason cracked his neck, moving over to a window.

Cadence's head slumped forward as she quietly slept and the magic of her horn faded out. As it did, the blue shield surrounding the city started to lift up and then quickly moved back until it winked out of existence. At the far side of the city, Sombra smoked his way into the city, invading every home and crystal wall along the way towards the castle.

"That's my cue." Jason jumped out the window, landing hard on the ground, cracking it. "Hey! Smoke monster man!" Jason shouted, getting Sombra's attention. "Omnitrix, Clockwork." He shifted again, this time into a tall, metallic creature with a wind up key on top of its head and a green porthole in its chest.

"Yess?" Sombra's voice sounded smokey as he hissed when he rose sideways out of the wall, looking at the metal man quizzically. "You don't have crysstal." He hissed again.

"Oh I do, but you've got to come down here first." Jason waved, suddenly taking on a Swedish accent. Sliding back into the wall, Sombra's shadow moved from wall to wall, leaving every wall he touched the colour of midnight as he headed closer to Clockwork.

Clockwork reached up, turning the key in his head. "Psyche!" He shouted, unleashing a green blast from his chest once Sombra got to ground level. Once the blast faded, Sombra was gone, replaced by a small foal, sitting in a pile of Sombra's clothes. "Tada!" Clockwork called triumphantly, placing his hands on his hips, striking a pose.

"His big plan was to turn Sombra into a baby?" Twilight asked in disbelief. Derrick looked out at the blackened walls and he saw them return to their normal colour.

"Well that's anti-climactic." Pinkie said with a frown.

"What? Did you expect him to use a Spirit Bomb or something?" Freya asked, raising her eyebrow. Both Pinkie and Twilight looked over to Freya, noticing what she actually looked like.

"You … are a changeling." Pinkie said dumbly.

"You going to invade us like you did with Canterlot?" Twilight asked, narrowing her eyes at her cautiously.

"First off, that's extremely racist, secondly, fuck you." Freya glared, bearing her fangs a little.

Both of them moved back a bit when she bared her fangs. "I just assumed you were one of the changelings that invaded Canterlot." Twilight said simply, shaking her head a bit.

"It's hard to judge a single individual when it's a lot simpler to judge a race and therefore create stereotypes." Pinkie said with a straight face.

"Jason is my father, logically I'm not from this universe," Freya said, giving them both a flat stare.

"That part may have slipped our minds." Twilight said, idly scratching at the side of her lip.

"I'm completely lost." Derrick said with a slack jaw.

"It doesn't matter," Freya said, sighing a little, "I forget other universes aren't as well off as my own."

"What are we going to do about that baby down there?" Gruff asked, pointing with his spear towards baby Sombra.

"Not point weapons at harmless infants," Freya chastised, pushing his spear away.

"Sorry. Won't happen again." Gruff sighed, standing a little loosely at attention.

"What's that face for?" The female guard asked Derrick, whose face was one of surprise.

"He has emotion other than a rock." Derrick said in awe and wonderment.

"I suppose you could have Caddy and Shiny take him," Jason reappeared in the room, holding Sombra, who was swaddled in his cape, not looking very happy, though now his horn was that of a normal unicorns and his eyes were no longer green and purple.

"Aww … he's so cute!" Pinkie cooed. "It's hard to believe he was invading mere moments ago." She added as she leaned down to look at Sombra better.

"We'll certainly take care of him. What I want to know is why my wife is asleep." Shining demanded as he ran into the room, panting slightly. "When I saw the shield go down, I ran over here as fast as I could but it doesn't look like there's any danger here."

"Oh, I just put a sleep spell on her." Jason shrugged, rocking Sombra a little. "I think his mind might still be there, but I'm not entirely sure."

"As long as it wasn't an eternal sleep spell then that's fine. What do you mean his mind _might_ still be there." Shining asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"Never actually did that before," he said with a shrug, "I honestly have no idea."

"For your sake, I hope it is." Shining warned. He sighed, exhaled and tried to calm himself.

"Yeah, like you couldn't just use a mind wipe spell, though, that might not be exactly ethical..." Jason mused, stroking his beard.

"Maybe not. Can I hold him then?" Shining asked, a lot calmer than how he felt before.

"Sure," Jason said, passing the tiny foal off to Shining. He took the foal carefully, and gently rocked him when he made it into his arms.

"Jason, Freya mentioned something called a Displaced and that you were one of them. Can you explain what they are?" Derrick asked, tapping his hand against his leg.

"You bought something related to the character you became from some weirdo and than bam, you landed in Equestria." Jason didn't even bother to look back at Derrick.

"No .. I didn't do that. I fell into a fire wearing this costume, saved by a woman and that woman sent me here." Derrick said, moving a bit closer.

"Well that's different..." Jason mumbled, looking back at him, "Same thing applies though."

"Okay, and what about the thing that summoned you here? What's that about?"

"Each Displaced makes a token and sends it out into the multiverse, to come to the aid of those that call upon them."

"If that's what it does then I want to help. How would I go about getting one of these tokens?"

"Just take an item that represents you, focus on it, put a message in it and toss it into the void."

"I'm not even going to ask about the void as that sounds a whole nother can of worms." Derrick said. Looking around a bit, he then looked at himself and saw his scarf. "Will my scarf do? I just don't want to lose it, is all."

Jason just shrugged. "You can use literally anything."

Thinking for a bit, Derrick finally decided on using his scarf. "I'll use my scarf. Do I have to say a message as well?" Derrick wondered. The female guard managed to get the scarf off his neck and placed it into his hand. "Thanks, now for the message." He said and tried to think of a good one. "I think I have it." Holding his scarf tightly, Derrick thought really hard about the message and said it out loud. " _I am fire, I am light. If you need a way to light the darkness that surrounds you or just to have someone to talk to, I will be there. Wear this scarf and in a burst of flames, I will come running_." He finished, proud of his message. "What happens now?"

"Omnitrix, Hodgepodge," Jason commanded, shifting into a strange mishmashed creature.

"Ah!" he exclaimed, stretching his limbs out, having the voice of Christopher Walken, "I was hoping he'd let me out again."

"AAAAH! IT'S DISCORD!" The various coloured horse people screamed at the sight of him. "How did he get out?" Twilight wondered a little more logically than the rest of her friends.

"Who's that?" Derrick asked.

"No, I'm Hodgepodge, totally different person," he spoke again, coiling around Twilight, "Besides, I'm a lot better than him."

"How are you better than him?" Twilight asked as she crossed her arms over her chest. The other people in the room slowly calmed down as they realised he wasn't harming any of them.

"Well, I haz teh internetz to troll you better with, Hodge responded, "Besides, he mellowed out after he and Fluttershy hooked up."

"Oh no. Not the internet. Did you break him much?" Derrick asked as he closed his eyes and groaned.

"That's good to know? Not sure how that Fluttershy thing works out but hopefully they're both happy." Twilight said.

"Well, then they hooked up with Nightmare Moon, you got with Flash Sentry, Dash hooked up with Gilda, Applejack is still single, Pinkie got with Cheese, Rarity got with Jason, and now they all have kids!" Hodge smiled, "As you can see with dear Freya over there."

"Alternate Equestria, keep that in mind. I have no idea who Flash Sentry or Cheese are but I'm sure they're all happy. What happens with Derrick's scarf now?"

"I'll take that." Hodge was suddenly behind Derrick, stealing the scarf from him. He punched the air, breaking reality like glass, revealing a black emptiness behind it. "Anyone got a rock?"

"Ooh! I do!" Pinkie cried out. She suddenly moved behind the throne and plucked out a rock from an invisible crevice. "There are rocks everywhere if you know where to find them." Pinkie said simply and tossed the rock to Hodgepodge.

"Thanks!" He tied the scarf around the rock, tossing it through the hole, which suddenly wasn't there anymore. "Welp! That's taken care of!"

"That was surprisingly simple." Derrick said with a small smile. "What happens now?"

"Well, the authors want Jason to stick around and train you, or we could toss the script out of the window. Personally? I just want to troll everyone." He snapped his fingers, switching everyone's gender, except for himself. "Rule 63 bitches!"


	7. Aliens and Magic Part 3 (WARNING: SEX)

"Why?" Derrick whined only for his voice to sound a lot higher. The girls in the room looked down their shirts only to find that nothing was there.

"You broke the fourth wall didn't you?" Pinkie asked, her voice sounding a lot deeper than usual.

"This definitely feels weird." Twilight and Shining said at the same time, only to look at each other and find similar expressions. A girly scream sounded out and they all looked towards Gruff which is where it seemed to originate from.

"I did it for the lulz!" Hodgepodge shouted, throwing his hands into the air, laughing maniacally, thunder crashing in the sky behind him.

"Well this is new," Freya commented, flexing the scorpion tail that she had acquired.

"Oh dear, forgot about that," Hodge stopped mid-evil laugh, frowning at the changeling before restoring her original gender. "There, that's better."

"Not sure how you did this to me but take a look at the crystal on my body. If you look through it, you can see that I look like I still have a male body even though I clearly sound different." Derrick said with a huff.

"Right. The crystal. I still have no idea how to counteract that. Sorry." Shining apologised.

"Hmm..."Hodge pulled out a stick, pushing it into the crystal, pulling away a section before taking a bit. "Mmmm...tastes like black berry..."

"It … wha? What was that for?" Derrick asked, wishing he could lift his arms in disbelief. "I thought it would have tasted like licorice but black berry sounds nice."

"Want some?" he asked, holding the stick out.

"I would but I can't actually raise my arms unfortunately." Derrick answered. "It'll be interesting to see if I could actually eat the crystal."

"Shall I get rid of it for you?" he asked, floating around him, munching on his crystal. He snapped his fingers, the crystal vanishing off Derrick, reappearing in his hand as a giant piece of rock candy.

Flexing his arms at finally being able to move them again, he looked down and instantly closed his vest. "That's definitely different. Is that candy the crystal that was covering me?" He asked, feeling the gender swap changes taking effect now.

"Yup, that's it alright, eat up!"

Holding his vest closed with one hand, Derrick took the crystal from Hodgepodge and bringing it to his mouth, he bit into it, fully expecting his teeth to break. When they didn't, he was pleasantly surprised and ended up eating all of the crystal candy.

"That was not too bad actually." Derrick said with a smile after he swallowed. Feeling a surge of energy, he opened his palm and found a crystal floating there. "That wasn't there before." He said curiously. Suddenly, Derrick found himself going through the Mega Man power up scene. A blinding white light enveloped him and when it was over, he found himself surrounded by floating black crystals. When he touched them, they melted into his body, one by one. "I don't know what that was about but I think I can make crystals now."

"Sweet." Hodge said, smiling down at him.

Derrick smiled back and he scratched his head, unwittingly letting go of his vest which fell open to reveal had nothing on underneath. "Are we still gender bent?"

"Yes you are, nice rack." Freya smirked, taking a nice long look.

Derrick looked down at himself at that and blushed immensely, hastily closing his vest. "The one time I wished I had something on underneath." He grumbled.

"Aw, come on," Freya whined, crossing her arms.

"You actually like it?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, hesitantly letting go of his vest again.

"Why wouldn't I? Those things are at least a C-cup."

"She gets the sex mania from Loki," Hodge explained, looking over Twilight's shoulder, "That guy would sleep with anything."

"I have no words for this." She said simply and saw out of the corner of her eye, that her brother, Cadence and the two guards left them alone. "Maybe you should at least change them back before they leave the room." She said, pointing to the leaving group.

"Oh fine." He snapped his fingers, restoring the retreating group. "Happy now?"

"Yes. Very much so. At least the royalty won't get laughed at." She said, giving Hodgepodge a smile.

"You put too much stock in royalty you know," Hodge booped her nose, "I mean really, it's a bit sad."

"That may be so but they help keep the place running." Pinkie supplied, stretching her arms above her head.

Derrick poked his chest to see if they were real and feeling a bit of pain as he did, confirmed that they were real. "These are real. You think they're at least a C-cup?"

"Hell yeah I do!" Freya smirked, reaching out and poking one of them.

"Take it somewhere else you two!" Hodgepodge shouted at them. "I will not allow you to defile this room with rule 34!"

"Okay fine. We'll take it somewhere else then." Derrick said and poked his tongue out at Hodge. "Do you want to take it somewhere else?" He asked Freya.

"Let's." Freya smiled, licking her lips.

"Isn't she like 15?" Twilight asked, her eyebrow raised.

"Changelings have different social norms, she's of age by their standards." Hodge shrugged a little, "Oh Derrick, Jason told me if you hurt her, he'll erase you from existence."

Derrick gulped at that. "I don't doubt it." he said and taking Freya's hand, walked out the throne room. "There should be a spare room around here somewhere." he muttered.

"Twilight, I remembered I have to prepare food for the fair so I'll go and do that now." Pinkie said and excusing herself, she completely ignored that she was genderbent and just took it in her stride.

"So...what do you gentlemen want to do hmm?" Hodge asked, looking at the gathered stallions. "We could play some D&D, maybe some Magic: The Gathering, FNAF, Uno."

Hearing the mention of games, Pinkie turned around and walked back. "On second thought, the food can wait. What do you want to play Twilight?" She asked her friend, sitting down on the floor.

"What's FNAF?" She asked, raising an eyebrow and sitting down as well.

"Five Nights At Freddy's." Hodgepodge said simply.

* * *

 _ **WORD OF WARNING: THIS IS JUST A SHORT CLOP SCENE AND IMPACTS THE STORY A LITTLE BIT. YOU CAN SKIP THIS BIT IF YOU WANT TO AND NOT INTO THIS SORT OF THING**_

Finally finding a free room, Derrick opened the door. "This should be as good a room as any." He said and walked in, leading Freya inside.

"Seems nice enough," she agreed, placing her sword by the door, rubbing her shoulder a little.

Derrick closed the door, being sure to lock it as well. "I did not think these doors have locks on them." He then looked over to Freya and rubbed his arms.

"You'd be surprised," she leaned down, taking her greaves off, letting them fall to the floor. She moved up, taking her armor off, exposing her natural, shiny back armor underneath.

"This is how you usually look?" He asked in pleasant surprise.

"No duh." Freya rolled her eyes. "I am a changeling...well half changeling anyway." She went to work on getting her breastplate off, sighing in relief as she pried it off.

"Never seen a changeling before." Derrick said with a shrug and crouched, taking his shoes off. Getting up, he untied the bottom of his baggy pants and stretched. When he was done, he took his vest off, seeing no point in having it on anymore. Freya smirked, letting out a whistle.

"What?" Derrick asked with a smirk, blushing profusely at the same time. He grabbed his breasts and bounced them up and down in his hands. "You like this?"

"Hell yeah I do," she licked her lips, showing off her fangs. In response, Derrick grinned and found himself moving forward towards her. "Ever done this before?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Does 'no' count as an answer?" He asked back, wrapping his arms around her waist as well.

"It does," she leaned close, nipping at his neck. "Is it alright if I feed?"

"Go ahead." Derrick answered as he felt a bit of pleasure from where she nipped.

"Thanks," she smiled, her horn lighting up a deep red, sucking in the lust, "Mmm...that's good..."

Derrick slowly reached up and carefully fondled with Freya's breasts, unsure of what else to do with his hands.

She let out a long moan, giving his ass a squeeze. "No need to be gentle."

He gave a soft moan at the squeeze and began to fondle her breasts more roughly than before, listening to what she said. Letting go suddenly, he untied his belt and shimmied his pants down to his feet, stepping out of them.

"Ooh, even nicer~" Freya smirked, giving a toothy grin.

He looked down and blushed at what he saw. "You like this too?" He asked, posing a little bit.

"Yup." she reached down, giving it a rub. Derrick's body grew all tense and he let out a shuddering moan at the touch. In response, he managed to bring his arms up to her head and brought Freya's head in for a kiss. She closed her eyes, locking her lips with his. He closed his eyes and taking his hands off her head, he moved them down to her waist and let them rest there. "Well..." she pulled away panting. "This is getting heavy..."

"How … so?" He asked, panting from the kiss.

"The lust coming off you...it's so intense..."

"That must be good … for you then." He said and moved their bodies to the bed.

"It's good for both of us..." she kissed him, falling back on the bed, pulling him down on top of her. He kissed back and he felt his breasts squish against hers, moaning at the touch. She leaned up, nibbling at his ear. "I'm going to make you never want to be male again..." she muttered into his ear, biting at the lobe.

"How you going to do that?" He breathed, small pleasurable shudders going through his body wherever she touched him.

"By rocking your world," she said, a large predatory grin spreading across her face.

 ** _CLOP ENDS HERE, MORE STORY BELOW_**

* * *

"Oh come on, this game isn't even that scary!" Hodgepodge called, looking away from the computer screen, "Ponies, what a bunch of cowards."

Holding each other for comfort, both Pinkie and Twilight were shaking in fear. "This is not a game. How can this even be _classified_ as one!?"

"It's a HORROR game. By Yggdrasil you ponies are pansies. I bet the original Dracula movie from the 30's would give you nightmares for a month." He grumbled, crossing his arms.

"I've seen that and it was only a tiny bit scary. This, however, is pure nightmare fuel." Pinkie protested as she stared at the screen while Twilight clicked around with the mouse. The doors on the screen opened and closed. When Freddy's laugh sounded, they both trembled.

"Remind me to never let either of you play Silent Hill."

"Duly noted." Twilight said absently before she screamed in fright at the sudden scare of Bonnie.

"Seriously! This isn't that scary!" Hodge protested. "Stop being Pewdiepie!"

"Alright Mr. I'm Not Scared. Why don't you try playing it?" Pinkie asked and handed the mouse over to him.

"Kay." he took the mouse from her, starting to play, looking rather bored. "Well, this got dull. You two wanna see baby pictures of the other you's kids?"

"How many times have you actually played this?" Twilight asked as she jumped a bit at Freddy's jumpscare.

"Twilight, I spend 99.9% of my time in Jason's head. You know what I do in there? I watch the void. Terrible, ugly, unfathomable things lurk in the void. Things that, if you even caught a glimpse of their toe nail, you'd be reduced to a jibbering mad man. This? This is nothing."

"I'll just shut up then." Twilight said with a frown. "I'll exit out of this." She said and exited out of the game.

"What do the kids look like?" Pinkie asked, bouncing up and down as she recovered from being terrified.

"I'm glad you asked!" he produced a flash drive, plugging it into the computer. "Whose do you want to see first?"

"Let's go with Fluttershy." She suggested.

"Alright." he opened up the picture folder, pulling up a picture. "This prime example of chaos is Eris, daughter of Flutterbat and Discord." On the screen was a very strange creature, longer than a pony but shorter than Discord. She had two symmetrical horns, the forearms of a racoon, the body and head of a pony and a dragon tail. Her coat was a light pink and her mane was a butterscotch yellow. Her ears were tufted and she had a slight hint of vampire fangs.

"Eris. Nice name. Her coat is Fluttershy's inverted colours." Twilight said as she propped her chin on her knee.

"No kidding. I didn't think racoon was part of whatever makes up Discord." Pinkie commented.

"We can actually use whatever animals we want." Hodge corrected. "Who next?"

"What about the other me?" Twilight asked, biting one of her nails.

"Why are you biting your nails?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Hm?" Twilight asked, getting her finger out of her mouth. "No idea. It's a habit I've had since I was little." She explained, putting her leg down and resumed sitting cross legged. "I would either bite them while I was reading a book, concentrating too hard or just plain bored." She explained further.

"Well anyway, here is your son, Dusk Star." He switched to another picture, this one of a male, alicorn pony, with a deep purple coat, his mane and tail blue with purple stripes.

"He's gorgeous." Twilight said with a soft smile.

"It's strange seeing an Alicorn with four legs instead of two." Pinkie commented, brushing part of her poofy mane.

"And it's weird seeing ponies on two legs instead of one." Hodge countered.

"Huh? Where did you see a one-legged pony? Was it here?" Pinkie asked, immediately excited.

"That was a typo Pinkie."

"Aww. I hate it when the authors do that." Pinkie said with a frown and her mane deflated slightly.

"... Anyway, are there other kids we have or is it just the one for each pair?" Twilight asked, steering the conversation back to the pictures.

"Of course there are other kids." He rolled his eyes. "You guys multiply like rabbits."

"We don't multiply like rabbits. We multiply like people, silly." Pinkie said as nodded her head from side to side, poking her tongue out at him.

"It's an expression Pinkie." Twilight muttered.

"Anyway, here's Beowulf." He moved to the next image of a four legged hippogriff, his crest feather marked with the colors of the rainbow, his tail sporting the same colors.

"That must be Rainbow's kid." Twilight remarked, spotting the different colours.

"Did she and Gilda have a kid?" Pinkie asked, clapping her hands together.

"Yup. "

"I didn't think any kid of Rainbow and Gilda would turn out to be a hippogriff though." Twilight said, her hand on her chin as she studied the picture. "What's Rainbow like in your Equestria?" She asked, stretching her arms above her head and giving her feet a little shake to get the pins and needles out of them.

"Alright, but you asked for it." He brought up another picture, this one of a blue pony with a rainbow mane and tail. Her forelegs were missing, replaced by mechanical talons and her wings were far larger than they looked like they should be.

Both of them gasped at what they saw, with Twilight gripping the sides of the monitor as she muttered 'no' over and over again.

"Eh, don't get all worked up," Hodge said, patting her head, "She actually likes the talons."

Twilight closed her eyes but the image was burned into her mind. She moved back a bit and sniffed.

"If it makes you feel better, you made those talons."

"It … does. A little bit." Twilight sniffed, running her hand over her nose. Pinke just patted her on the shoulder, looking at the picture with a sad face.

"Why are you two even sad anyway? That whole thing happened fifteen years ago." Hodge rolled his eyes. "Ponies...I swear..."

"Because she looks like our friend with the only difference being that she's a pony and that she has talons." Twilight answered, looking Hodge in the eye.

"It was one of the defining moments of her life to be honest," Hodge replied, shrugging, "Anyway, who do you want to see next?"

"Ooh! Me! The other me's kid!" Pinkie announced excitedly, shaking Twilight roughly as she did.

"Alright, well here's Surprise." He brought up a white pegasus with blonde mane and tail, both as curly as Pinkie's hair. "She's basically just a retooling of Pinkie to be honest..."

"Of course she is! That's just the pony version of me with wings! Still, she looks adorable!" Pinkie said gleefully, clapping her hands together in delight.

He rolled his eyes. "Well that's three of you down, and keep in mind, AJ is still single."

"Right. What about Rarity?" Twilight asked, biting her nail again.

"You should really stop that, it's not good for your nails." He snapped his fingers, a taffy appearing in her mouth.

Twilight merely snorted, keeping her mouth closed as she glared at Hodge.

On the screen was a lime green coated bicorn, his mane and tail a deep purple. "Behold! Prince Elusive!"

"He's handsome." Pinkie commented, a sort of dreamy look in her eyes.

"He's also part changeling."

Twilight looked at the screen in shock while Pinkie simply stared, a tiny bit of drool leaking out of the corner of her mouth.

"See, Spike gave Rarity this cursed book and the more she used it, the more changeling she became." Hodge explained. "She's fine now, still mostly pony, but she's still noticeably different."

"Rarity is part changeling. I did not see that one coming." Twilight said after having gotten over the initial shock and swallowing the taffy. "How is she noticeably different? Does she have changeling armor on or something?"

"She has the weird saddle thing and the wings."

Twilight felt around her midriff and then her back as she tried to imagine what Rarity must feel like. "That must be life changing for her because I can't really imagine what it would be like." She said after a few minutes.

"If you say so. Anyway, am I forgetting anyone?" he asked, tapping his chin. "No I think that's everyone...would you like to know more about our world?"

"That would be great!" Twilight said, her eyes sparkling at the prospect of new knowledge.

"I wonder how Derrick and Freya are doing?" Pinkie wondered, tapping her chin in thought.

"Oh, they're doing fine," he said dismissively, "Now, how should I start? This might get a little, complicated..."


	8. Aliens and Magic Part 4 (WARNING: SEX)

_**THERE IS ANOTHER CLOP SCENE HERE. I'VE MARKED OFF WHERE YOU CAN START THE STORY IF YOU WANT TO SKIP PAST THIS. IF YOU ARE READING THE CLOP, PLEASE REMEMBER THAT DERRICK IS STILL GENDER BENT.**_

"How are you going to rock my world then?" Derrick asked with an uneasy smile.

"Oh come on," she leaned down, nipping at his neck."Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do. That smile just makes me feel a bit uneasy." He moaned a bit at her nipping and roughly squeezed one of her breasts in response.

"You know...I could be anyone you want..." she nibbled his ear, giving it a tug.

"You're a changeling … oh right. You can shift forms. Why not … just be yourself?" He said, panting a bit from what she was doing to him.

She gave him a smile. "If that's what you want..." she reached up, grabbing his breasts, rubbing her thumbs across his nipples. He could only gasp at the sensation, not used to feeling anything like this. Trying to imitate her, Derrick grabbed her breasts, and lightly rubbed against her nipples.

"That's it...don't be afraid to 'explore'." She winked at him, moving her hands down to his hips.

"You're really into this, aren't you?" Derrick asked, leaning to the side and rolling over, bringing Freya on top of him.

"And you aren't?" she asked, looking down at him.

"Of course I am. I just still can't believe I got gender swapped." Derrick answered with a sensual smile, rubbing his hands up and down her sides before playing with her folds.

She moaned, arching her back. "That's it...keep doing that~"

Smiling even more at this, he played with them a bit more before gently inserting a couple of fingers, slowly moving them in and out, feeling his fingers get coated with her juices.

"Oooh~" she moaned, kissing him. "You sure you've never done this before?"

"I'm definitely sure of that. Am I really that good?" He kissed her back, steadily thrusting his fingers faster and faster.

"That and you taste wonderful..." she pulled him into a kiss, her horn still glowing.

Falling back onto the bed once she let go, he wondered what else he could do with his other hand. Moving it to the top of her folds, he found a little nub. "This is new …" he muttered, lightly flicking to see if it garnered any reaction.

She gasped, her body going stiff. "Now that's the spot~"

Pleased at having found a new pleasure centre, he started to flick the nub quickly while simultaneously thrusting his fingers in and out of her.

She moaned, moving her hand down, doing the same to him.

He gasped at that, momentarily pausing as new waves of pleasure washed over him. After getting used t it, he moaned, restarting the motions from before.

"I told you this was amazing…" she moaned out, nipping at his nipples, raking her fangs over one.

He couldn't speak as his brain overloaded at the sensations. All he could do was continuously flick her nub and thrust his fingers, squirming slightly as he felt an unfamiliar pressure build.

She did the same to his nub, purring softly as she drank in the lust.

He squirmed some more, moaning out as he felt her flick his nub. His fingers slowed their thrusting as he felt the pressure build more, feeling it threaten to release.

"Yes!" she cried out, licking her lips, panting heavily.

Feeling the pressure peak, he moaned out loudly, feeling something squirt out of him. After having experienced his first orgasm, Derrick, laid still, panting heavily with a dopey smile on his face. "That … was … amazing~" He said dopily.

"I told you..." she huffed, leaning down, kissing him deeply. Derrick kissed her back just as deeply, propping himself up on his elbows.

"I am ... definitely not going back ... to being a male ... after this." He panted.

"I also told you you'd be saying that as well," she smirked, nuzzling him. Smiling at her, Derrick nuzzled back and sat up fully, holding Freya as she sat on his lap.

"I'm going to need a new name, aren't I?" He asked.

"Only if you want to," she rested her head on his chest, her horn losing its glow.

"How about Crystal?" He asked.

"I like it…" she said, yawning softly.

"That's good to know." Crystal said, yawning as well. She leaned back on the bed, still holding Freya as she did. She closed her eyes, dozing off with a frazzled smile on her muzzle.

 _ **THIS IS WHERE THE CLOP ENDS AND THE STORY BEGINS**_

* * *

"Let me get this straight. Yggdrasil is a world tree and is connected to nine different realms?" Twilight asked, tapping a quill against her chin.

"They're actually universes and there are about ten of them now," Hodge corrected, eating a bag of pork rinds.

"Oh." Twilight said, quickly correcting the notes.

"What kind of universes are they? I wasn't really paying attention." Pinkie asked, putting her hand up.

"Did I also mention, about seven of those were made from the body of a giant?" he asked, making sure to crunch his food as obnoxiously as possible.

"No, I don't think you did," Twilight answered, quickly scanning her notes. "That is very interesting how they're made from giants though." she continued, doing her best to ignore the crunching.

"No, no, seven entire universes were made from one guy, who was murdered in his sleep."

"Um, oh. Well then. That's certainly something." Twilight said, blinking a bit to try and wrap her head around it.

"Don't think too hard on it Twi, you're not rated for Void logic." he said, holding up a instruction booklet with her picture on the front.

"There's an instruction booklet on me?" Twilight asked, dumbstruck. "Why am I not that surprised by it?"

"As it turns out, Pinkie is a defective model."

"I am? Whoopee! I'm defective!" Pinkie said in delight waving her arms in the air. "Wait. Why am I even defective in the first place?"

"You know and do things no mere mortal should..." Hodge mumbled, "Anyway, don't piss Yggdrasil off or it'll eat you.",

"I'm going to take that literally." Pinkie said, giving Hodge a salute.

"You should." he nodded his head. " Anyway, what do you want to know next, or have the authors decided to move onto something other than exposition?"

"Definitely something other than exposition. They feel it's getting a bit stale now." Pinkie replied, nodding sagely.

"Oh good," he smiled, "So, Jason's going to stay a while, beat Derrick into shape, make a man, or shall I say...woman out of him..."

"Sounds good to me." Pinkie agreed, trying to stifle a laugh.

"Woman? He doesn't want to change back?" Twilight asked, putting her notes and quill away.

"Nope." He smirked. "Anyway, you two want to go back to being lovely ladies or give all the fan girls a yaoi scene? I'm not into it myself but you know some who read this story are."

"I wouldn't want to disappoint the fans but sadly, we both want to be changed back." Pinkie said, giving Twilight a smile.

"Oh, right. Yeah, I … don't want to do whatever a yaoi scene is." Twilight told him, thinking about it for a bit. Hodge nodded, changing them back.

"I am curious. Which way do you two swing in this world?" he asked, coiling around them.

"Bisexual." Pinkie said immediately, not shy about her sexual preference. Twilight, on the other hand, blushed immensely and mumbled which way she swung.

"What was that my dear? I couldn't quite hear you." Hodgepodge said, sticking a hearing aid in his ear.

"Lesbian." Twilight said quickly, idly prodding both her forefingers together.

"Than you two are perfect for each other! I know Twipie is a bit of an odd ship but I love it!" he smirked. "And if you ever want foals, I could easily switch you to Dusk Shadow or Bubble Berry...come to think of it...should R63 Pinkie have Pie in his name? Who does he think he is anyway?"

"Someone completely different on account of him being male." Pinkie answered, not noticing that Twilight's blush grew redder.

"Well? Kiss already!"

"Oh fine!" Twilight said, goaded into it. Getting a determined look, she walked over to Pinkie, turned her around to face her, and kissed her deeply. Pinkie smiled and kissed back, wrapping her arms around Twilight.

Hodge just stared, his jaw hanging open. "You know...I was just messing with ya,...I didn't expect you to do it..."

"It's too late to say it now, now is it?" Twilight asked, smirking as she wrapped an arm around Pinkie's shoulders.

"Wait...you two were together this whole time weren't you!? You've been playing me this whole time!?"

"Yup! We didn't expect you to ask us about which way we swung but the jig is up now~" Pinkie sang, poking her tongue out at Hodge playfully.

"You win this time girls," he narrowed his eyes at them, "But I will have my vengeance!"

"We'll be waiting for that revenge. Don't you worry about it." Twilight smirked.

"Surprise!" he flicked her nose. "You're in heat! Have fun Bubble Berry!" he snapped his fingers before exploding into confetti.

"I'm going to get that draconequus back." She grumbled, her face of shock turned to one of frustration as she rubbed her thighs together.

* * *

"Sleep well?" Jason asked, looking down at Crystal, his eyebrow raised. Freya was nowhere to be seen, leaving just the two of them.

"Hi, Jason." Crystal greeted, looking up at him. "Would it be a bad thing if I said yes?"

"No, but keep what Freya and you did to yourselves, I really don't need to hear it." He responded, tossing her clothes on the bed.

"Right. I can definitely do that." Crystal replied, putting her clothes on.

"Freya and I are going to be staying awhile, train your ass into shape. I'm not going to lie, I'm going to beat you into the ground while I do it."

"I have no doubt you will. We could probably train back at Ponyville if you're staying a while, or out in the snow would do." Crystal suggested, her eyes widening.

"We can train in Ponyville," he nodded, "At least until we start getting to the really destructive spells."

"Destructive?" Crystal asked excitedly. "There's a magic guild near Ponyville called Fairy Tail. I heard it from someone who was on a job here. Fairy Tail is the most destructive guild in Fiore, well, Equestria in this case. I'm sure the more destructive spells will be fine to use near Ponyville."

"One of these spells destroyed a world once." Jason looked at him. "Out in the snow would be best for that leave of spell."

"The snow would be the best in that case then." Crystal agreed. "We should get going to Ponyville then right? Seeming that the training is sorted out."

"We'll leave when the girls are ready to leave." He moved to the door. "Freya is with Rarity, getting some clothes made. We can start training now if you want."

"That'll be good. The sooner we start, the more intense it will be right?" Crystal replied, following Jason out the door.

"I'm not going to destroy you, relax, besides, I can heal any injury you get...aside from reattaching limbs."

"What was that last part?" She asked, cupping a hand to her ear. "For a second there, I thought you said you couldn't reattach limbs."

"I can't." he looked back at her. "I'm not going to sugar coat anything. If you don't want to be my student, I don't think any less of you for it."

"Oh, I'll still be your student, I'm just trying to figure out why I would need my limbs to be reattached in the first place." Crystal replied with an uneasy smile.

"I'll try to avoid it." he nodded, stopping a guard. "Is there a training room nearby?"

"Down this corridor, third door on the right. That room is usually reserved for training guards but there aren't any guards there so you should be fine." The guard directed them before continuing on his patrol.

"Thank you," he replied before leading Crystal down the hallway.

"What are we going to work on first?" Crystal asked, following Jason to the training room.

"What do you want to work on?" he asked, opening the door, walking inside.

"Getting better control of my magic would be a good start." Crystal suggested, shaking her arms and accidentally sending crystal shards into the door frame as she followed him in.

"...Yeah, we're going to need to work on that..." he muttered. He moved a bit aways, pulling out a small grey cube, placing it on the floor.

"What the heck is that?" She asked, looking at the cube and crossing her arms in front of her in case she fired off any more shards.

"This is my storage cube, it holds all my stuff." He sat down, gesturing for her to do the same.

Crystal sat opposite Jason, raising an eyebrow. She gestured for him to continue and looked at the cube curiously. "I don't think that small thing can hold _anything_ in it."

He casually reached into it, pulling out his sword. "Any other stupid comments?"

"Nope." Crystal said, firmly keeping her mouth shut and eyeing the sword warily. He rolled his eyes, putting his sword in.

"Now, do you have any idea how to work magic or is it just instinct?"

"I've been getting by on instinct and what I've seen my character do on his show but I can't really … work it." Crystal explained.

"Right then." he nodded his head. "I want you to close your eyes alright?"

"Yeah, okay." Crystal closed her eyes, doing just as he said.

"Now, when you use your magic, even by instinct, you can feel it. What I want you to do is look inside yourself and find that feeling again."

"This sounds like some Buddhist stuff but okay." Crystal mumbled and tried to find some sort of magical feeling inside herself. Closing her eyes tighter, she tried even harder to find it when that feeling couldn't be found the first time.

Jason just watched in silence, pulling out a book, starting to quietly read.

Exhaling rapidly, Crystal tried to calm down by taking in slow, deep breaths. After having successfully done so, she tried again and thought she found a flicker of something. "I ... think I found something. It's a flicker but it's there." Crystal said, her eyes still closed.

"Good, good," Jason looked up, smiling. "Now, focus on it. Don't be afraid of it, it's a part of you. Make it brighten but don't make it spark."

Crystal nodded and focussed on the flicker, trying her best to make it even more brighter. Doing a few breathing exercises calmed her down enough to make the flicker bright but as soon as she was aware of it, the flicker dampened.

"I made it bright but as I was aware of it, it dampened." Crystal called out, her eyes staying shut as she focussed on the flicker some more.

"It'll take you some time, but you can keep it from dampening, you just have to concentrate on it and not let go."

"Easy for you to say," Crystal mumbled and concentrated. This time, she managed to brighten it and actually kept it at that level of brightness. "It seems to be working."

"Good, now hold out your hand, and will it to manifest."

Slowly moving her hand out, she splayed her palm and willed her magic to do its work. What manifested was a combination of small crystals and fire. Inching her eyes open, Crystal looked at her hand and a big smile came across her face. "Look! I did it!"

"Good job. Now, do it again." Jason smirked, leaning back.

Closing her hand and then opening it again, Crystal closed her eyes and concentrated on the bright thing in her, willing her magic to manifest again. Opening her eyes to see if there were any results, she found that the same thing happened again. "It worked again." Crystal said in slight disbelief.

"Good, that means, at least, you can summon up for magic at will." He smiled, holding out his own hand, conjuring up a multicolored distortion.

"What. Is that?" Crystal asked, pointing to the distortion in Jason's hand.

"This...is Ultima, my most powerful spell." He stared at the distortion, letting it hover over his hand.

"Ultima. That another Final Fantasy spell?" Crystal asked, staring at the distortion intently.

"The most powerful...powerful enough to destroy a world."

"That certainly sounds lethal." Crystal blinked at it, then looked up at Jason. Concentrating on the flicker in herself, she opened her palm and found the combination of crystals and fire there again. "I seem to be getting the hang of this."

"Good, that means I can begin to teach you some of the lower level spells." Jason got to his feet. "Let's start with Fire."

"That one's simple." Crystal said, lighting her hand on fire. "What do you want me to do with it?" She asked, scratching her head with her other hand.

"Right, ok, lets try Blizzard." He sighed, before smiling. "Lets just see how good you are at this."

* * *

"The others should be ready by now." Crystal said, walking out the door of the training room.

"You did well," Jason said, shifting back from Hodgepodge, who had restored the training room to normal. "Didn't think you'd get the base level spells so quickly."

"Heh, neither did I." Crystal said with a laugh, holding her vest closed with a bit of crystal acting as a zipper. "The base spells seemed really easy to get once I got hold of that flicker."

"True, but that's just the base four elemental spells, we haven't even gotten into the white mage spells, haste, silence, all that good stuff." Jason closed the door, following her down the hall.

"I don't think I'll get those spells." Cystal said and stopped walking at the end of the hall as she watched Pinkie and Twilight walk by, looking extremely tired and pleased. "What happened to you two?" Crystal asked.

"Something nice..." Pinkie said, wearing a dopey grin on her face.

"Hodge." Twilight said, giving Jason a soft glare.

"That would explain it. I suppose you both are ready to go?" Crystal asked, stepping back a bit from them.

"We definitely are …" Pinkie answered for both of them.

"That's good to know. Where's Freya again?" Crystal asked, looking over her shoulder at Jason.

"With Rarity, come on." He navigated the castle expertly, humming a soft tune to himself.

The three girls followed him, idly chatting amongst themselves as they headed to their next destination.

"That should be everything, darling." Rarity told Freya, handing her the bundle of clothes she had wanted. It only took a few hours but after having worked herself to the bone a few times before this particular workload, Rarity felt that it was worth it.

"Thanks m-Rarity..." Freya spoke, taking them. "I'll just get changed..." she hurried into the backroom, getting changed out of her armor.

"Oh, hello you four. Everything alright?" Rarity asked as she heard footsteps come her way. Looking at the group, she spotted a third girl and wondered who it was. "Who's this?" She asked, pointing to Crystal.

"This used to be Derrick," Jason said, placing his hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Hi, Rarity." Crystal said, giving a wave.

"She used to be Derrick?" Rarity asked in disbelief, eyes narrowing as she tried to replace the girl with Derrick.

"Yup. Some gender swapping happened and I stayed this way. Also, I go by Crystal now." Crystal answered, giving Rarity a nod and a smile "If it helps, I made a complete abomination of Pinkie's costume." She smirked.

"That does. A lot. You need to replace the colour patches you took." Rarity said, finally recognising Crystal as Derrick. "I'm not even going to ask about the … gender swap because that seems to be a whole nother can of worms I'd rather not open." Rarity added.

"Good, it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense anyway." Jason laughed, shaking his head. "We ready to go everyone?"

Rarity, Twilight, Pinkie and Crystal all nodded at him.

"We're ready to go. We missing anyone?" Twilight asked, looking around.

"Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy all went on ahead if that's what you're wondering." Rarity replied.

"Alright!" Freya came out, now decked out in her new clothes. "Let's get going!"

"We're all here now so the only thing left is to go to the train station." Crystal said, watching Freya run up to the group. "You're looking good." She told Freya.

"What are we standing around for then?" Pinkie asked and began leading them to the train station.

Freya smiled, putting her arm around Crystal, pulling her close. Crystal moved closer to her, leaning into the embrace.

"How long is the train from here to Ponyville?" Crystal asked Pinkie.

"About a few hours. It does have to travel down a mountain after all." Pinkie answered, turning around and clasping her hands behind her back while walking backwards.

"Sounds good to me. I just hope I don't get motion sickness on the train." Crystal said, giving Pinkie a smile. "You feel more comfortable in those clothes?" She asked Freya, picking at them.

"Yup! I'm all good now!" she leaned over, giving her cheek a peck. Crystal blushed a bit at the peck.

"Good to hear." She replied and looked at the station in the distance. "I didn't think it would be so far to the station."


	9. Aliens and Magic Part 5

Eventually arriving at the station, the group made it inside just before the train moved away and down towards Ponyville. Sitting on a spare seat near a window, Crystal glanced at Jason.

"How much can that cube of yours hold?" She asked him, referring to the cube he had showed her earlier. "I'm guessing it's an infinite space thingy otherwise how else would it hold that sword," she added, wrapping an arm around Freya as she sat next to her.

"Yeah, it's got an infinite space in it." he said with a nod. "It's very convenient."

"So you put anything and everything in it. Must be handy to carry every possession you have with you everywhere." Crystal said, twirling a lock of her pink hair.

"This cube you're talking about sounds like what I can do whenever I grab something strange." Pinkie commented, taking a rubber duck out of her mane. "See?"

Feeling the train go over a particularly big bump in the tracks, Crystal felt herself become a bit queasy.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Crystal said softly, looking a bit green in the face.

"You two have been fairly quiet." Twilight said to Jason and Freya, rubbing one of her eyes to get a bit of dirt out of it. "Is something wrong?" She asked.

"Hm?" Jason asked, looking at her. "Nah, I'm just having a conversation in my head." He shrugged. "Sorry, I get lost in my head sometimes."

"I'm still a bit weirded out by you guys honestly..." Freya muttered, casting a spell to counter Crystal's motion sickness.

"Why? Because we're not like the ponies you're used to seeing?" Twilight asked her, raising an eyebrow and gesturing with her hand.

"Were you talking with Hodge?" Pinkie asked Jason while Crystal silently thanked Freya for the spell.

"Ye ah, that's it." Freya nodded.

"Him and the other two that live in my head, Gram and Ormagoden." Jason explained. "You don't want to meet Orm."

"I'm gonna say he's a very bad voice. What about Gram?" Pinkie asked.

"I don't know how to stop you from being weirded out then." Twilight said with a slight frown.

"Gram is basically Clint Eastwood." Jason leaned back, putting his hands behind his head. "There was another guy but he left."

"Who's Clint Eastwood again?" Crystal asked, breathing in and out slowly so that sick feeling wouldn't come back.

"..Don't make me slap you..." Jason said, his eye twitching.

"I may have struck a nerve." Crystal said, biting her bottom lip.

"Maybe you should have paid more attention to pop culture." Freya smirked, punching her arm.

"Maybe I should've. Was Clint Eastwood the one who starred in all those westerns?" Crystal asked, rubbing her arm where Freya punched her.

"You're damn right! The Man With No Name!" Freya extended her arm, mimicking a gun with her hand, pretending to fire it.

"This may sound stupid but I've only heard of him, and even then, it was in passing. So sorry for asking who he was?" Crystal said nervously, leaning towards the wall as much as she can.

"Eh you're fine, I just have weird parents." Freya waved her hand dismissively. "I mean, she drunkenly sang, 'The Real Slim Shady,' to a group of nobles at the Gala."

Crystal snorted with laughter as she tried to keep it contained at that.

"I'm sorry but...I don't see myself getting drunk..." Rarity said, raising her eyebrow.

"You're not the mom I was talking about." Freya responded, crossing her arms.

"You have a second mum?" Crystal asked, looking at Freya and Jason with her mouth open slightly.

"Yeah, the woman who laid my egg, Empress Chrysalis." Freya smirked, watching their jaws drop.

"I'm polygamous." Jason smirked as well, "Blew your guys' mind huh?"

"You … you, you, you're second mother is Chrysalis!?" Twilight screeched, her jaw practically dropping to the floor.

"That explains it!" Pinkie said in triumph, hitting her fist into her palm.

"Actually, Rarity is my second mother," Freya pointed out, "Not only that but changelings and ponies have been at peace since I've been alive, hell, they even live as one country."

"What." Rarity, Twilight and Pinkie said at the same time, feeling like their minds had blown.

"I'm just going to wait this one out." Crystal said, eyeing the changeling and jotun.

"A few months after I first came to my Equestria, Chrysalis completely surrendered to Celestia and her hive was absorbed into the country," Jason began, "Shortly after that, she was granted the old castle in the Everfree to be her hive's new home. She then managed, with the help of Maud, another Displaced, and myself, to gather the queens of the other hives and was elevated to the role of empress."

"The sister of the other me helped you out?" Pinkie asked.

"I didn't know you had a sister." Twilight told Pinkie.

"So you and Chrysalis helped her become Empress? What's that like?" Crystal asked.

"Basically, she rules over the changelings as a race, but she's still a part of Equestria. Fun fact, our Equestria is actually a hexarchy." Jason pulled out a black crown, inlaid with emeralds, placing it on his head.

"You're a prince!?" The four girls asked at the same time.

"How the hell did you become a prince?" Crystal asked, looking at the crown on his head.

"Alicorns have divine right to rule." Jason shrugged. "It was Celly's idea anyway. I rule over the Everfree forest and Valhalla, the village that sprung up around the old castle."

"That makes sense, I suppose." Twilight said, having gotten out her scroll from earlier and jotted down whatever Jason said. "Valhalla is a village you helped create?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, the influx of nobles from Canterlot after that thing with Fenrir certainly helped..." Jason got a far off look in his eyes as a memory replayed in his mind.

"What's a 'Fenrir'?" Twilight asked.

"If your dad is a prince, what does that make you?" Crystal asked Freya.

"Fenrir is my great uncle, a giant wolf who ate the All-Father Odin at Ragnarok and whose sons devoured the sun and moon." Jason snapped out of it, looking up. "He died several million years ago and Canterlot mountain grew over his bones."

Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie crowded around one of the windows and looked at the mountain they were currently descending.

"I don't think Fenrir is in this particular world." Crystal called out to them but they stayed near the window. "He's not, is he?" Crystal whispered to Jason.

"No he's not, I imagine he's tied to Norse universes." Jason snorted. "And again, he;s been dead for MILLIONS of years."

"Girls, come back here." Crystal called them over. Hearing her this time, the three of them came back and sat back down. "Fenrir isn't even here, and if he was, he's long gone ok?" Crystal assured the three of them.

"And if he was, I'd kill him." Jason said simply, running a hand through his beard.

"I don't doubt that." Crystal said with a bit of fear in her eyes. Pinkie looked out the window as she felt the train level out.

"We're almost at Ponyville." She said boredly.

"You sound bored." Freya turned to her. "Got nothing to cheer ya up?"

"For once, I don't have anything to cheer me up. But once we get to Ponyville, I know I'll brighten up!" Pinkie answered with a smile but her face still showed that she was bored.

She nodded, leaning on Crystal's shoulder. "I'm uh...not going to get swarmed by an angry mob am I?"

"I honestly have no clue. This is the first time we've seen a changeling since the wedding so who knows?" Twilight said with a bit of concern on her face.

"You could always disguise yourself." Crystal suggested. "It may not be what you want but it could work," she added.

"I refuse to hide myself." Freya growled. "I shouldn't have to do that to appease some racist ponies."

"It was just a suggestion." Crystal muttered.

"I don't really know how the town will react so we'll just have to see." Twilight said with a soft smile.

"I'm not afraid to lay the fuck smack on some ponies." Jason got up, cracking his neck. "Come on, trains pulling into the station."

Getting up, Crystal stretched her arms and cracked her neck, getting the crinks out of it. After having done that, she, along with the rest of the group, walked out of the train and into the town proper. Freya took her hand, squeezing it a little as they stepped off the train.

"It'll be fine." Crystal said to her, squeezing her hand back. Leading the group further into town, she then realised she had no idea of where to go to. "Where do we go? I've never been here before." Looking up as a shadow fell over them, Crystal found that the shadow belonged to a blue-skinned pony but this one was wingless. Seeing she was opening her mouth, Twilight immediately shut it with her magic.

"Rainbow, don't say a word. Come down here and we will explain, okay?" She said and kept her magical grip as Rainbow glided down on a cloud of air. She was wearing a dark-blue shirt along with denim shorts with a slit in the back for her tail to poke through. On the shirt was a white cloud with a multi-coloured lightning bolt on it.

"So? I'm waiting. Why is there a changeling and two weirdos with you?" Rainbow said, crossing her arms and tapping her foot as she waited for some sort of explanation.

"A lot of things happened while you were helping out the Empire. That's where we met these three." Twilight said, gesturing to Crystal, Freya and Jason. She then proceeded to explain why they were all together as a group, along with showing the notes she had gathered by talking with them.

"So these three are not from this world and you trust them just like that?" Rainbow asked.

"Yes, because Jason helped defeat Sombra and the other two helped out with various tasks." Twilight answered.

"Sorry. I still don't buy it." Rainbow said and splayed her hand, sending a harsh burst of air towards Freya but that was only because she was the closest one out of the three of them.

"Oh it is on!" Freya snarled getting to her hooves. She snorted, bringing her hand down and sending a bolt of lightning onto Dash.

Bringing her hands up to try and deflect the bolt, Dash felt the lightning run through her, causing her mane to spike up. Getting a bit of mobility back, she clapped her hands together and sent a ripple of air to the changeling. The air she sent was slightly electrified due to her body still going through the after effects of being shocked.

Freya smirked before cracking her neck. "Haste!" She shouted, her movements looking like she was in fast forward. She darted toward Dash, laying punch after punch before throwing her to the ground, spitting some goo at her and in a flash had her cocooned.

Dash barely had time to bring her arms up to defend herself before the changeling cocooned her in the blink of an eye. "Hey! What gives?" Dash shouted as she struggled in vain to get free of the cocoon.

"That's what you get for being a racist and attacking me." Freya smirked, crossing her arms.

"I'm not racist. I only attacked you because you happened to be the closest! If it was one of your friends, then I would have attacked them instead." Dash protested, ceasing her struggles for the moment while she caught her breath.

"Still you attacked me for no reason so...in the cocoon you stay!" she smiled starting to walk away.

"Don't walk away from me! I attack things I don't trust!" Dash shouted at her as she began to struggle harder than before to get out of the cocoon.

"You're not going to get out~!" She called back, cackling at the top of her lungs.

Dash could only scream in response.

"Rainbow … you should have learnt by now to talk with new people instead of attacking them out of the blue." Twilight told her entrapped friend with a raised eyebrow.

"It's more fun if I attack first, ask questions later." Dash snorted.

"It's also a really stupid thing a child would do." Jason looked down at her. "Should I reduce you to a child as well? It might be good for you."

Dash eyeballed Jason before realising he was talking seriously. "No, I'm good thanks." She answered, knowing that she had no idea what these people were capable of.

"Smart choice," Jason said with a smile before walking past her, following Freya.

"You attack people because you don't trust them? That is not a good start to getting new people to trust you." Crystal said, leaning down to look at Dash better.

"So? The talking bit comes later after I explain _why_ I attacked them." Dash answered.

"Does it work?" Crystal asked, stepping to the side as she began to follow Jason and Freya.

"Less often than not." Dash replied and looked at Twilight pleadingly. "Can you help me out of here?"

"No can do. I think it would be better if you stayed there for a bit to think things over." Twilight said with a shake of her head. Leading the other two to where Jason and Freya were, both of them mouthed that they were sorry.

"Oh yes," Freya called back, "I should tell you, if you don't get out of the cocoon quick enough, you'll be converted into a changeling~! So if I were you I'd hurry up!"

"What!?" Dash squawked at her, immediately working double time to get out the cocoon.

"Is that true?" Crystal asked.

"I'm not telling~" Freya smirked, continuing on her way.

Crystal gave Freya a frown and scratched the back of her head. "Where we going anyway?"

"Twilight?" Jason asked, looking over his shoulder.

"I need to report in to the Princesses and tell them what happened so I figured we could just go back to the library." Twilight answered, gesturing to the giant tree they were walking towards. "Oh, by the way, one thing you should know about Rainbow that differs from your one. She's … had her wings amputated. I got no idea how or why because it happened before we met." Twilight added, saying the last part softly.

"Ours had her forelegs cut off." Jason stared at the ground. "We made her new ones."

"I hope she's happy with her new legs." Crystal said, closing her eyes for a bit.

"Of course she is, they let her punch holes in reality." Jason laughed. "You have no idea how big her ego is now."

"I imagine it would be." Rarity said with a smile. Twilight opened up the door and lead everyone inside, calling out for Spike at the same time.

"Spike! Can you come down?"

"Yeah?" Spike called back, and upon seeing the group, took a step back. "Um, Twilight? Who are these?"

"These are friends we made in the Crystal Empire. Long story. I'll tell you sometime later." Twilight answered, rubbing her forehead.

"Sup?" Freya asked, looking down at Spike.

"Nothing much." Spike answered, trying not to freak out at the changeling.

"You're a dragon. I thought seeing pony/human hybrids was weird enough." Crystal said in disbelief to him.

"Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be one?" Spike asked the one who spoke.

"No idea. I'm Crystal by the way." Crystal replied, walking up to him and circled around him slowly.

Spike followed her with his eyes until she disappeared behind him. He looked over to the third person and waved at him. "Hi! I'm Spike! What's your name?"

Jason just laughed. "I'm Jason but you can call me Jay. I'll be staying for a while to beat Crystal into shape and maybe teach anyone else who wants to learn."

"That reminds me! Spike, I need you to write a letter to Princess Celestia." Twilight said with a grin. Promptly grabbing a piece of parchment and a quill off the nearby desk, he stood at attention and listened to Twilight as she recounted the events of what happened at the Crystal Empire. Reading it over and repeating it back to her, they both gave a nod at it being correct and with a puff of green fire, sent it off to Celestia.

"There we go. Since the three of you are staying for a while, we need to figure out accommodations." Twilight said, dusting her hands.

"Where's a place that can house three beings from another universe?" Pinkie asked, tapping a finger on her chin.

"There's a hotel nearby but I don't think they would take kindly to you three." Rarity said with a puff of air and looked out the window.

"We can just shack up in the Everfree." Jason shrugged, leaning on a wall.

"The what?" Crystal asked, taking a quick look out a window to the distant trees. "That the Everfree?"

"Yup, that's where we live in our universe, rebuilt the old castle into our hive." Freya sat down, putting her hooves up on the table

Crystal hummed and idly played with some fire in her palm. "We could train there as well. It'll be out of the way of the town." She suggested, turning around and leaning gently on the window.

"And we can use the timberwolves for practice." Jason said, popping up the dial of his Omnitrix, flipping through it.

"Do you have a timberwolf form in there?" Twilight asked, gazing intently at the watch.

"What's a timberwolf?" Crystal asked, feeling very stupid at asking these questions.

"A timberwolf is just that. A wolf made out of magical twigs." Pinkie answered, grabbing a random book off the shelf and flipping through it. "See?" She asked, shoving the book into Crystal's hands.

"It's made out of twigs." Crystal said bluntly, looking over the picture.

"Yeah, they're kinda stupid too." Jason added.

"So they have all the brains of a rock. Good to know." Crystal said as she poked her tongue out the side of her mouth as she looked through the rest of the book.

"I'll have you know, rocks are actually smart! So it's an insult to rock kind to say they're dumb!" Pinkie protested.

"Okay, sorry. I didn't think rocks actually had brains because they're … well, rocks." Crystal immediately backed down, leaning further into the window in an attempt to dislodge Pinkie's hard stare. "You're scary." Crystal added in a small voice.

Twilight looked like she was going to say something but was interrupted by the sight of Princess Celestia touching down in her chariot just outside. "Why is Princess Celestia here?"

"I dunno, probably to see the otherworldly visitors." Jason didn't look up, still moving through his watch.

Sidling away from Pinkie, Crystal looked at the front door as Spike opened it up. She saw an alabaster Alicorn walk through, a white robe flowing from her shoulders with gold trim. Crystal saw out of the corner of her eye, Twilight, Pinkie and Rarity quickly bow before the princess before straightening up.

"Permit my asking, why are you here, princess?" Rarity asked.

"I am here, Rarity, to see these three creatures Twilight spoke of in her letter. And I can see that her descriptions were spot on." Celestia answered, closing the door behind her and looking at Crystal, Freya and Jason. "You must be the three. How did you get here?"

"Transdimensional teleportation." Crystal answered, folding her arms. Looking over to Jason, she sighed. "What are you looking for in that watch?" She asked, twirling a lock of pink hair around her finger.

"I like to keep stock every now and then, helps me to remember what I have and what I don't." He explained, never looking away.

"Interesting. And, Freya is it? What do you have to say for yourself? It's not everyday a group of aliens show up." Celestia asked the changeling, taking a step closer to her.

"What?" She asked, looking up at her. "I just got pulled along with me dad." She shrugged, putting her hands behind her head.

"And that must be Jason?" Celestia asked, looking over to the bearded man.

"Yup."

"Pleasure to meet both of you." Celestia said with a soft smile. "Crystal, you can make fire, is that correct?" The princess asked her.

"Yeah, why?" Crystal asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I just wanted to confirm something." Celestia replied and gestured for Twilight to walk outside with her. Once the door closed, Crystal let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Is it just me, or did she seem subtly intimidating?" Crystal asked.

"She's just a blow hard, she shrugs off all her problems on Twilight and her friends." Jason shrugged.

"That's a bit lazy of her then. Should we start walking to the Everfree or hang out around here for a bit?" Crystal said with a thin-lipped smile and crossed arms.

"I don't see why not, they can find us if they need us." He put the dial back down, moving toward the door. "Come on Freya, lets go."

"Alright, alright sheesh." She got up, stretching. "We should probably check on Dash while we're out."

"Good idea." Crystal said and followed them, waving to Pinkie and Rarity as she did. "I wonder if she's gotten out of the cocoon," she wondered out loud, stretching her arms behind her head. The trio walked past Twilight and Celestia and were soon on there way to the Everfree. They stopped by where they knew Dash would be though to check up on her.


	10. Aliens and Magic Part 6

Looking down at the cocoon, Crystal found that Rainbow's fur had turned shiny and black, a jet-black horn jutted from her head with electric blue spiralling around it. Her hooves had a few small holes in them but the only thing that was relatively unchanged was her mane and tail, even if they had a slight green tinge to them.

"She wasn't strong enough to get out of the cocoon." Crystal stated, kneeling down next to Dash.

"Nope~!" Freya kneeled down, tearing the cocoon open with her horn, releasing the new changeling.

When it opened, Dash's eyes snapped open and rose up, shaking her head. "Ugh. What happened?" Dash asked, rubbing her face. Feeling something on her head, she felt it around with her hand. "I have a horn. I must have converted into a changeling." Rainbow said softly, looking at the three of them.

"What? You're not going to freak out?" Jason asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Why would I? I freaked out already after you all left. I guess I sort of accepted it after tiring from trying to break free." Dash said simply, shrugging. She stretched and heard a few cracks. Feeling something fluttering on her back, she tried to feel around and found it to be membranous wings. "Wings? Wings!? I have wings!?" Dash asked in a slight panic.

"This you freak out over?" Crystal asked in disbelief.

"You don't get it. My wings were amputated. I didn't think the conversion would affect that! The nerves were shot, so I had to go with having nubs. I didn't think the wings part of being a changeling would come into play because of that." Dash explained, her new wings fluttering haphazardly all the while.

"Nice..." Freya smiled, walking around Dash. "You made an excellent drone!"

"A … drone?" Dash asked with a straight face, trying to get used to having wings again. "Why would I be a drone?"

"What? You think you'd turn into a queen?" Freya scoffed, "Your ego never changes."

"I thought of that, but I also thought I'd turn into a changeling like you." Dash confessed, standing up and rolling her shoulders, wincing at the itchiness her wings provided.

"You are like me except I am a queen and you are a drone, my drone." Freya smirked, looking her over.

"Well that's just great." Dash said sarcastically, folding her arms over her chest. "I'm not sure how to feel about that."

"It doesn't matter how you feel, what matter is you are mine now." Freya crossed her arms smirking.

"Twilight is going to be pissed." Jason sighed, running a hand down his face.

"I wonder how Twilight and the others will react to Dash being a changeling. It most likely won't be pretty." Crystal said with a frown, tapping her foot impatiently.

"How do you think I'm yours? Because you converted me?" Dash asked Freya, raising an eyebrow.

"Because I can do this." She smirked and suddenly Dash was standing at attention.

"What is this? Why can't I move?" Dash asked, trying in vain to move her fingers to no avail.

"You hear that voice in your head?" Freya asked, tapping Dash's head. "That's my voice. You are now connected to me via a hivemind and you will do whatever I command you to do, when I command you to do it."

Dash winced as she heard Freya speak in her mind. "This must be how Chrysalis commanded her army," she commented.

"Well of course, duh." Freya commented back.

"I don't get a say in what you make me do, do I?" Dash asked for confirmation, trying to move her arm but found that Freya still had a hold on her. "I don't like this one bit," she growled.

"Changeling hierarchy is confusing." Crystal mumbled, holding her head to try and make sense of all this.

"You don't have to like it." Freya shrugged. "Now dance!"

Dash heard the command and instantly found herself dancing to some tune only she could hear. "This is so humiliating." Dash grumbled. Crystal found herself trying to hold back laughter as she witnessed Dash's crazy dance moves.

"Well maybe you should think twice about attacking people hmm?" She asked, a smirk of amusement on her face.

"I definitely will if that will make me stop dancing." Dash answered with a snort.

"Nope!"

"Oh come on! What do you want from me then? An apology? Actually think about why I attacked you?" Dash asked, only feeling slightly desperate.

"No I want you to keep moving that sexy body of yours." She smirked, licking her lips.

"What?" Dash asked in astonishment.

"You heard me!"

Dash only grumbled and began to move her body more sexily than before.

"Alright, alright, that's enough." Jason cleared his throat. "Dash, do you want to stay a changeling or go back to being...whatever the hell you were before?"

"I'll stay as a changeling. If only to keep the wings." Dash answered confidently.

"I'm pretty sure you'd at least get your old wings back if I change you back."

"You can do that?" Dash asked, eyes widening. "I just don't want to risk it though, in case it doesn't work."

"It'll be fine, now do you want to go back or not?"

Dash thought about it for a bit and shook her head. "No, I'll stay as a changeling. There could be other benefits to being a changeling anyway."

"Oh, one other thing I should mention." Freya cleared her throat. "All drones are asexual."

"They are?" Dash asked in surprise. "So I won't be able to love someone?"

"Nope, and you'll never have children, those organs are gone." She sighed. "You really, really shouldn't stay like this."

"If you change me back, will I have wings?" Dash asked immediately, not liking the sound of being a changeling anymore.

"Yes I'm sure." He rolled his eyes. "Unless you want to try and become a queen...though I have no idea how you'd even do that."

"Change me back then, please." Dash said with conviction, having finally made up her mind about it.

"Omnitrix, repair genetic damage." Jason held his arm out, the Omnitrix let out a green energy pulse, hitting Dash. Her exoskeleton burned off, revealing her original form.

"Thank you." Dash said, giving a quick feel around her back to find that her wings were there. "My wings are here too. What was that green beam?" Dash asked, flexing her wings a bit and scratching her cheek.

"It was the watch fixing your DNA." Jason turned, looking to the forest. "Now come on, we have things to do."

"Right." Crystal said and rubbed the back of her neck. She gave Dash a smile and followed Jason, sticking close to Freya.

"You going to the Everfree? Why?" Dash asked before they got out of earshot.

"To train!" Jason shouted back.

* * *

A few months have gone by and during that time, Jason and Freya both trained Crystal. Having had her butt handed to her multiple times, Crystal figured that a few dozen more wouldn't hurt. She has definitely felt herself get stronger every time they trained, even if it was only bit by bit. The three of them were currently sitting up in the library in the Castle of the Two Sisters.

"Come on, you ready to train some more today?" Crystal asked them.

"Actually, it might be time for us to go." Jason got up from his chair, stretching himself out. "I mean, Hodgepodge did the math, a few months here is what? A week or two home? We really can't stay too much longer."

"Awww. Okay. I didn't think you would stay this long though. A couple of weeks, maybe a month, tops." Crystal frowned but immediately smiled as she got up from her chair. "Thank you for training me though. It's been really fun." She added, giving the both of them a smile. "How do I send you back?"

"We don't have to leave right now..." Freya moved over, pulling Crystal into a deep kiss.

"You don't? The way Jason said it made it sound like you did." Crystal said, kissing Freya just as deeply.

Jason sighed, heading to the door. "Come find me in Ponyville when you're done."

"Yup, got it." Crystal said as she blushed profusely and gave Jason a sheepish smile. She then wrapped her arms around Freya when she heard the door close, smiling up at her. "We're all alone now, aren't we?" She asked, giving Freya a quick kiss.

"That we are..." she smiled, licking Crystal's lips. Crystal caught Freya's tongue with her lips, suckling on it a bit before going in for another kiss.

"Crystal?" Freya asked, pulling back a bit.

"Yeah? What?" Crystal replied curiously.

"Sorry about this!" She gave a sheepish smile before casting Sleep on her. Not having any time to react, Crystal's eyes closed and she slumped towards the floor, instantly falling asleep as the spell took effect.

* * *

Opening her eyes, Crystal yawned and blinked, looking around the room from where she was lying on the floor. Loud screams and explosions filled the air, the ground shaking. Hearing this, Crystal shakily got up and slowly walked to the door, trying to balance herself on the shaking ground. Walking through it, she got her balance right and began running full pelt to where she believed everything originated from. Getting outside the castle, Crystal looked around frantically and found a plume of smoke rising from somewhere nearby. Recognising the direction, she huffed and ran as fast as she could towards Ponyville, the screams and explosions only getting louder the nearer she got.

"Why is this even happening?" Crystal asked herself as she got closer, racing past the forest limits to try and figure out what the heck was causing this.

"Someone help!" Twilight shouted running out of her library, which was on fire.

Crystal made her way over to Twilight and grabbed her by the arms. "Twilight, what happened here?" She asked roughly, looking at the tree house. Concentrating, she let go of her and walked up, breathing in the fire and toxic fumes until there was nothing left to make the tree burn. "I'll ask again. What happened?"

"H-he went insane!" she cried, "H-he's killing everyone!"

"What? Who went insane?" Crystal asked, trying to get a bit more information out of her before trying to help any others. "You don't mean Jason, do you?" Crystal asked nervously.

"H-"There was a sickening cracking sound and she fell limp against her, a large piece of blue diamond sticking out of the back of her head.

"A diamond?" Crystal asked, looking at the direction the diamond must have come from. Recognising its colour, her eyes widened in fear as she realised that it belonged to Jason. "Oh no." She muttered to herself. Looking at the direction again, Crystal took off that way, hoping to catch up to him.

Rarity's scream pierced the air, spurring Crystal on. Quickly running to her, she tried to comfort her but at the same time, kept her eyes peeled for any rogue diamonds. Taking a quick look around at the fires, Crystal left Rarity for a moment to try and absorb the flames so that they won't get any further out of control.

"Come on, Diamondhead. Where are you?" Crystal muttered after having absorbed the flames and made sure Rarity was fine before taking off in a random direction.

"S-someone help!" Dash shouted, drawing Crystal's attention. She watched in horror as Jason brought his foot down on her head, crushing it.

Filled with rage at him killing her friends, Crystal covered herself in a thick layer of black crystal. She charged at him, ignoring the gory remains of Dash's head as she went to punch him. He caught her wrist, punching her in the stomach before tossing her away.

Crystal grunted and screamed as she was tossed away. Smashing into a building, she coughed and wiped her mouth, standing up. The layer of crystal on her was completely obliterated near her stomach and chipped away from when she landed in the building. Shaking her head, Crystal snorted and filled her hands with flames. Running towards him, she shouted something and combined both hands, clapping a massive fireball towards him. She then sent a small flurry of crystals after the fireball in case he managed to block it. He rolled out of the way, sending a shockwave of ice spikes at her.

Gritting her teeth, Crystal lit herself on fire and to the fires she absorbed earlier, turned the temperature up to such a degree that she left scorch marks wherever her feet touched the ground. Sidestepping the spikes in front of her, she then jumped above the second set and touched down, sending a shockwave of blistering flames his way with large shards of crystal mixed in.

He slid back a bit before changing into Four Arms, rushing at her. He threw two punches at her, using his other arms to try and grab her.

Crystal gasped as he punched her and dodged one of the arms before feeling him grab her with his second arm. Clasping her hands together, she gritted her teeth and formed a crystal spike between her hands. She then went and slammed the spike down onto the hand that held her.

He grunted in pain before tossing her into a building, cracking his neck.

Crystal gasped in pain as she felt a building crash around her. Coughing a bit of blood, Crystal glared at Four Arms and lit one hand on fire, while covering the other in crystal. Placing the fire in the crystal, she then wrapped it up in even more crystal before running up to him and chucking the crystal fireball at the four-armed monster. He brought his arms together in an attempt to block it, only to be sent through a building and tumbling into town hall.

She gave a savage grin at her small victory and ran after him, covering herself in crystal as she did. Igniting her hands, Crystal fired off a few fireballs at him as she slowed down to try and catch her breath and saw the fireballs careen wildly away from him. Once she got her breath back, she walked up to him and leaned down over him.

"Why did you go insane?" Crystal asked gruffly.

He started to laugh, looking up at her. "I didn't."

"What?" Crystal asked through gritted teeth. "What do you mean you didn't?"

He got up, brushing himself off. "It was all just a test Crystal."

"Just a test!? I saw you crush Dash's skull beneath your foot! I saw Twilight get impaled by a diamond! I helped stop fires around the town!" Crystal cried, waving her arm at the destruction and looking up at him with tears gathering in the corners of her eyes...except it was all fixed. There was no destruction and everyone seemed fine. Crystal took another angry look around and found that it was all fixed. No destruction anywhere.

"Wh-what? But … there was …" Crystal trailed off as she wiped her eyes. "How and why? Why did you make me believe you went insane and killed two of my friends?" Crystal asked, ineffectively trying to push him backwards.

"I needed to test you." He looked down at her. "I needed to know what kind of person you really are."

"And the verdict was?" Crystal asked with slight anger in her voice as she closed her eyes and exhaled.

"You passed with flying colors." He smiled, patting her shoulder. "Now come on, let's go to Sugarcube Corner and get you some food."

"That's … good." Crystal said as she sighed in relief, letting the last of her anger go. Turning around, she then began to walk to the bakery. "I passed with flying colours. Did anyone here see what we did?"

"Everyone in town saw."

"Oh." Crystal said in a small voice, suddenly feeling self-conscious about herself. "Were they hurt in any way?" She asked, hoping no one was _actually_ hurt. "Was Freya in on this as well?" Crystal continued suspiciously.

"No Crystal, no one was hurt." Jason rolled his eyes. "If if makes you feel any better the guy who trained me did the same thing."

"He - oh." Crystal stammered. "At least the town is fine. How did you make me think it was all real though?"

'Because I can cast illusions." He smiled sadly. 'You know...Freya's going to miss you..."

"She is?" Crystal asked, her mood turning slightly sour. "I didn't think she would." Crystal added softly.

"Why wouldn't she? You two have been close this whole time." Jason slapped Crystal upside the head. "Yggdrasil your dense."

"I may be dense but I thought she wouldn't because of what she said about changeling drones being asexual and I have no idea if Freya is a drone or a queen." Crystal replied, rubbing the sore spot on her head.

"You don't pay attention at all do you? Of course Freya is a queen, otherwise Dash wouldn't have obeyed her."

"Yeah, well changeling ranking is confusing to me. I'll going to miss Freya as well." Crystal said with a soft sigh and found that Sugarcube Corner was just up ahead.

"That's why...I'm giving you two one last night together. Don't make me regret it got that?" He asked, moving into the building, leaving Crystal on her own.

"Yup, got it." Crystal replied as her face lit up. She then followed him inside, hoping to actually get something to eat.

"Hey." Freya slipped in behind her, kissing her neck. "You did good." She wrapped her arms around her waist, hugging her close.

"Hi. Thanks for that." Crystal said with a smile, leaning backwards into Freya. "You put me to sleep because of the test, didn't you?" she stated, knowing it to be true.

"Yeah...sorry about that..." she dragged Crystal to an unoccupied corner of the room, the table already set with food.

"Oh well. At least nothing bad actually happened." Crystal shrugged, sitting down at the table. "It's fine though. You've apologised twice so I think that's enough apologising."

"I made sure to order all your favorites!" Freya smiled, gesturing to the food.

"Oh! Thank you. But what about you though?" Crystal asked, enthusiastically digging in. "Are you going to eat?"

"I'm saving my appetite." She winked, licking her lips.

Crystal blushed, instantly knowing what she meant by that. "Fair enough," she said with a shrug.

"But take your time and enjoy your meal, I can wait."

Crystal did just that, managing to finish the meal in about an hour. While she did, they both talked about anything that popped into their heads.

"You know...my mother has been pressuring me to start my own hive." Freya nuzzled Crystal, who had been moved into the changeling's lap.

"She has? Why is that?" Crystal asked, nuzzling back.

"My sister Sif is going to inherit my mother's hive and Heimdall will be leaving to go off on his own soon. Can't have too many queens in one hive, even if they are related, that's how assassinations start."

"Ah, got it. And you're thinking about starting one with me?" Crystal asked, looking at her curiously.

"Well...yes..." she leaned down, nibbling on her ear.

"I … like the sound of that, actually." Crystal replied, biting on her bottom lip as she thought through it.

"R-really?" she asked, looking at her in genuine surprise.

"Yeah, really. I mean, it'll be different, and new, and exciting but if it's with you then I'm happy to do it." Crystal answered with a nod and a smile.

"Oh! You make me so happy!" she purred, hugging her lover tightly.

"Freya, a bit too tight!" Crystal gasped as she swore she felt her lungs get crushed slightly. "I'm happy that you're happy though," she rasped, managing to hug her back, even if it was with a lot less strength than she hoped.

"Oh! Sorry." Freya blushed, loosening her grip on the poor human.

Crystal sucked in some much needed air. "That's … fine. It was just unexpected, is all. Now, how do we go about making a hive?"

"Well..."She leaned down, breathing hotly on Crystal's neck. "I could pump you full of eggs..."

Crystal stiffened at that. "Is there any other way? I may as well know all the options." She said, leaning back a bit to look at Freya.

"Well...you could go back to being male for a bit or we could just convert a whole bunch of people." She hummed, stroking her hair. Crystal thought the different options over in her mind.

"The eggs sound very appealing …" Crystal mused, looping her hands lazily around Freya's neck.

"Really?" she asked, giving a laugh.

"What's so funny? The other two don't sound like a lot of fun for me." Crystal said with a shrug and a smile, giggling slightly. "The egg option sounds like it would be a lot more fun than the other two. That's all."

She giggled with her, nuzzling her neck. "You're the best you know that?"

"Nope. I may need to hear it more often." Crystal answered with a smirk, giving Freya a kiss on the cheek. "Do you know how long the eggs will stay in me?"

"Hmm...about three months give or take. They have to incubate."

"I figured that, I just didn't know how long." Crystal said with a shrug. "At least I now know."

"Honestly...I've been thinking about staying..."

"You … what? You're thinking of staying? Why?" Crystal asked in surprise.

"You silly..." she said, nibbling her ear again.

"Oh! Because of me!" Crystal said with a laugh. "What about your family though?"

"Not like I can't visit them, I mean, you do have my father's token."

"This is true. Hodge probably has a copy of mine anyway." Crystal replied. "Should we tell Jason about this?"

* * *

 _ **THIS IS A SLIGHT CLOP SCENE. I'LL MARK OFF WHERE THE STORY RESUMES. DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T LIKE CLOP!**_

"We can tell him later..." she licked her neck, her hands sliding under her shirt, grabbing her breasts, giving them a squeeze.

Crystal stiffened under the groping, panting a bit as she tried not to moan. "You do know we're still in public, right?"

"Oh I know, makes it just that much more exciting huh?" She grinned deviously, tweaking her nipples.

She desperately tried not to moan at the touch. "Maybe just a bit." Crystal panted, a blush adorning her cheeks. She nervously looked around and thankfully found that no-one was staring at them yet. Keeping her hands looped around Freya, she leaned in and kissed her passionately.

She returned the kiss, groping and squeezing her lover's breasts, her horn glowing as she sucked in the lust. Breathing through her nose, Crystal continued kissing and moved her hands from around her neck and slid them down until they rested atop of Freya's breasts. She gave them a gentle squeeze through her shirt, still slightly nervous about the other patrons.

"Come on...you can do better than that..." Freya egged on, keeping one hand at Crystal's breasts, her other hand slowly making its way down south.

"You want me to do better? Fine." Crystal replied, moving around so that she was straddling Freya while they still faced each other. She quickly moved her hand under Freya's shirt, groping one of her breasts while the other one began to move down below, unintentionally mirroring her.

She cooed, licking her cheek. "That's it! Much better!"

"Glad to please." Crystal smirked, letting out a small moan.

"Now..." Freya nipped at her neck. "Are you ready to be stuffed full of eggs...?"

Crystal leaned closer, nipping softly and breathing hotly on her neck. "More than ready." She whispered lustily, not caring anymore about the other occupants in the restaurant.

Freya smiled, her horn glowing again, teleporting them back into the forest, more specifically, a flowery meadow.

Crystal let go of her and fell backwards onto the grass, lifting her head and supporting herself with her elbows as she gazed at the sudden change in surroundings, smiling at the meadow. "This doesn't fit with the Everfree at all. It's actually nice here. I thought you liked being in public though. Why teleport us?"

"I do but I'm not going to just start doing it in the middle of Sugarcube Corner...just feels wrong...like stabbing your childhood..."

"I suppose that makes sense." Crystal replied, sitting up properly and looking at her lover with half-lidded eyes.

She smiled, grabbing Crystal's pants, pulling them off and tossing them away. Shivering a bit at the sudden contact with the air, she leaned forward and smiled wickedly, taking off Freya's shirt and throwing it to the side.

She giggled, tossing her own shirt away. "My, my, an eager one aren't you?"

"What can I say?" Crystal asked with a grin. Freya pushed her down, kissing her deeply. Crystal laughed and kissed back, groping Freya's breasts roughly as she tried to get her tongue into Freya's mouth. Freya smirked, kicking her own pants off.

"I'm going to make you scream..." she licked her fangs, a predatory grin on her face.

 _ **STORY RESUMES HERE!**_

* * *

"So...you two had fun..." Jason commented as the girls stumbled back into town

"Heh, heh." Crystal said with a loopy grin, leaning on Freya for support. Freya tenderly nuzzled her neck, rubbing Crystal's stomach gently.

Crystal hummed and held Freya's hand against her stomach but looked at Jason worriedly, unsure if she should be the one to break the news or not.

"You can't stay Freya." Jason sighed, shaking his head. "And no, before you go off on me, you're my successor." He looked his daughter in the eyes. "You're my first born...hatched, whatever, point is, I need you home."

Freya looked away, taking in a deep breath. "I'm sorry Crystal..."

"It's fine …" Crystal said, sitting down cross-legged and drawing circles in the dirt dejectedly. "I didn't think he would let you stay anyway."

Freya dropped to her knees, pulling Crystal into a tight hug. "I love you..." she whispered softly, nuzzling her.

Crystal sniffed, hugging Freya back just as tightly. "I love you too," she whispered, still looking at the ground, not willing to look either of them in the eye.

Freya gently grabbed her head, lifting it up so they could look eye to eye. "I will always come back to you." She lifted up Crystal's hand, placing a small disk in her hand. "This will let us talk no matter where we are."

Crystal looked at Freya with tears in her eyes and closed her hand around the disc. "You promise?"

"I swear it" She pulled her into another kiss. "I don't expect you to wait for me and you shouldn't..."

Crystal kissed her roughly, feeling tears slide down her face. "If that's the case, then I don't expect you to wait for me either." She said with a watery smile and a slight waver to her voice.

"I'll wait...if you wait..." Freya said softly, not wanting to let her go, tears flowing down her muzzle.

"You … will?" Crystal asked, looking at her with slight hope in her teary eyes.

"Of course I will...I'll wait until the end of time..." she got to her hooves, pulling Crystal up with her.

Crystal gave her a tight hug and whispered, "Thank you."

Freya hugged her back before stepping away, rubbing at her eyes.

"Here." Jason tossed Crystal a storage cube. "A graduation present. It's a copy of my cube, full of spell books and other assorted things, like a sack of enigma berry seeds and a device that'll play any song you can think of."

Crystal fumbled with it for a bit before finally catching it. "Oh, thanks. This'll be fun to play around with." She said after rubbing at her eyes.

"Just...let me know when it's time?" Freya asked, glancing at Crystal's stomach.

"Hmm. I definitely will." Crystal nodded, giving Freya a smile as she took notice of the glance. "I suppose you want to head back home?"

"All you have to say is, 'Jason, our contract is complete." Crystal took a deep breath and calmed herself.

"Jason, our contract is complete." Crystal repeated, placing the disc that Freya gave her inside her cube.

They gave one last wave before they vanished in a green flash, Jason's token falling to the ground. Crystal walked up to the token and held it tightly, giving it a sad smile.


	11. Ice Field

Placing the token in the cube, Crystal held it tightly, blinking away the last of her tears while walking forward slowly. She sighed to herself and thought back over what happened the previous few months. Concentrating on what Jason taught her about spells, she remembered a few of them but that was most likely what the spellbooks he gave her were referring to. Looking down at the ground as she walked, Crystal didn't notice that she nearly bumped into someone until a couple of hands were placed on her shoulders.

"Derrick? Where have you been for the past few months?" A familiar voice asked, causing Crystal to look up at her old name.

"In the Everfree, training with Jason and Freya, who just left. Why? Has something come up?" Crystal asked, looking at Levy worriedly. She still had the same clothes from when she was in the Crystal Empire. A sun yellow dress, with white trim on the bottom hem.

"You're not Derrick." Levy said in surprise as she beheld Crystal's face and voice.

"I am. I just had a gender swap and my name is Crystal now. Is something the matter?" Crystal repeated, looking at Levy intently.

"Not really. I just thought you stuck around in the Crystal Empire after Gajeel attacked. I tried to calm him down after the fight but he already was so we both went back to the guild. Where's your vest?" Levy said, and after looking at the red shirt, looked back up to Crystal.

"My vest? Shit, I must have left it back at the castle. I'll go grab it later." Crystal said, looking at the Everfree, then back to Levy, gently taking her hands off her shoulders. "There has to be another reason why you stopped me. What is it?"

"There wasn't really any other reason. I'm just glad you're here after not seeing you for three months." Levy said with a smile, clasping her hands behind her back and swaying from side to side a bit.

"Oh, well, while we're talking, why don't you show me where the guild is?" Crystal asked, smile growing as she saw Levy nod.

"Sure, I can do that." Levy answered, spinning on her heel to lead Crystal.

* * *

In a distant corner of Canterlot, in a dark alleyway where there were only a few shops that sold suspicious magic items, a hooded figure walked through it, finding the shop he was looking for.

"Ice-Make: Diamond Cage!" The figure shouted, throwing one of his hands out to encase the poor salesman in a block of ice, watching in smug satisfaction as the trapped stallion looked at him in horror.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" The salesperson asked, fear making his voice waver while, looking at the hooded figure. The figure didn't answer. He only swept passed and grabbed an amulet encased in a domed glass display case from behind the counter. Not wishing to hear another word from him, the figure punched the salesperson, knocking him out cold.

Leaving the shop, he made ice form around the lock, intentionally sealing the occupant inside, grinning maliciously all the while. Looking at the amulet in his hand properly, he smashed the glass and tossed it to another individual, who watched the entire ordeal take place.

"This what you wanted?" He asked, folding his arms after taking his hood off, revealing grey hair the same shade as his partner.

"Oh yes. Trixie is pleased you did well." Trixie answered, walking out of the shadows, revealing that she was wearing black leggings, a purple, star-studded skirt as well as a light pink, low-cut shirt with a blue crescent moon and wand in the middle. She walked up to him, trailing her fingers across his arm.

"Now for us to take our revenge. Trixie for Twilight, you for Gray, Lyon." Trixie said, giving him a manic grin as she placed the amulet around her neck. Feeling power surge through her, Lyon saw the blue unicorn's eyes light up red as well as her horn give off a faint red shine as her body accepted this new power.

"Perfect."

* * *

"Here we are!" Levy announced, giving the large, three storey building a few blocks down from Twilight's library a grand gesture.

"I do not know how I missed this the first time I walked through the town." Crystal said, her mouth hanging open as she looked at the building. "It's freaking huge!"

"I'm actually surprised you didn't stop by, considering you have the mark." Levy said, lifting up Crystal's right sleeve to show what she was talking about. Crystal glanced at it before Levy put the sleeve back down.

"I was busy with other stuff. But since we're here, we may as well go in." Crystal said, rubbing her eyes and flashing Levy a smile. She smiled back and led the way inside, ducking casually as she opened the door and a chair came flying out, shattering against the stairs that lead up to the entrance.

"The hell was that?" Crystal asked, looking at the splintered remains before moving her head to peek around the side of the door. Her eyes widened and she immediately ducked as a half-naked body came flying past, bouncing along the stairs and coming to a stop, only for him to immediately get up and rush back inside, howling in fury. "Levy? I think they're all mad." She said with a blank expression.

"That's one way of putting it. Quick! While nothing's flying past!" Levy said and immediately grabbed Crystal's hand as they both ran inside. They both quickly went to the side where no-one was fighting and made their way to the bar at the back. Looking around in amazement, Crystal mentally gave a whoop of joy as she watched the bar brawl.

"I finally get to see the guild!" Crystal was unable to contain her excitement, placing her storage cube in one of her pockets.

"Yeah? Oh right, you said you were from a different world. If the fighting gets too out of hand though, the master will step in but that hasn't happened for a few weeks, oddly enough." Levy informed her, leaning against the wall near the bar.

"Maybe they haven't been that bad." Crystal suggested, sitting down on a stool at the bar near Levy. "Is Gajeel here? I want to see his reaction if he remembers what I looked like." She added with a smile, taking a look around the room again. Her eyes stopped roving when she spotted the half-naked guy from earlier. "He doesn't look that banged up actually." Crystal commented, pointing to him.

"They never do, not unless they fight seriously at any rate. Grey! Your clothes!" A voice answered from behind Crystal, making her spin around to find a white-haired woman wearing a dark pink dress. Hearing a shout of indignation, she twirled back around on the bar stool to find Gray stomping away from the fight to hopefully find his clothes.

"You're Mirajane …" Crystal breathed, swivelling back to face her.

"That's me! Don't wear it out." Mirajane responded with a light-hearted smile. Humming to herself, she busied herself behind the bar and idly commented, "You're new. Where did Levy find you?"

"Crystal Empire. It was during my last job there. I haven't seen hi-her for the last few months actually." Levy answered, correcting herself during that slip up. If Mirajane noticed, then she didn't comment about it. Rather, she cleaned a few glasses and rested her upper body against the counter, looking at Crystal.

"What's your name?" Mirajane asked.

"Crystal." Crystal replied, jumping a bit at the sudden attention.

"Fitting name. Why have you come to Fairy Tail?"

"Levy wanted me to after I showed her this." Crystal replied, turning to the left while lifting up the right sleeve of her shirt, revealing a red Fairy Tail mark on her bicep.

"Where did you get that?" Mirajane asked suspiciously, touching the mark to see if it was real.

"Back home. It was meant to be a temporary tattoo but when I got sent here, it was somehow made real and permanent, along with the magic that goes with it." Crystal answered, brushing the fingers off and lowering the sleeve.

"Magic? What kind of magic?" A third voice popped up, making Crystal turn her head towards it. The voice belonged to an eighteen year old girl with dark-brown wavy hair,wearing the top half of a blue bikini and short red pants that came halfway up her knees.

Before Crystal could answer, a group of screams came from outside the guild, causing the fighting inside to almost immediately stop. She hopped off the stool, running towards sound while she noticed someone else do the same. Shouldering open one of the double doors, she quickly stepped down, hearing footsteps behind her as she did. Leaving it open, Crystal stepped onto the ground and took off, hopefully leading them to where she heard the screams.

"Oi! Slow down!" A male voice called out from behind her. Crystal skidded to a stop, turning to find Gray catching up to her.

"Was I really going that fast? And where are your clothes?" Crystal answered, raising an eyebrow at Gray's state of dress. Glancing down at himself, he growled at himself and glared at her.

"There's no time for that!"

"No time for what? Undressing? You appear to have it down to an art." Crystal commented.

"It's a habit." Gray answered, brushing past her roughly and stalking off to the screams.

"Yeah, I know." Crystal grumbled, rubbing her arm as she went after him.

When they both arrived, they found that most of the ponies in the marketplace had been iced over, including most of the ground. Other than that, Twilight was casting spells at another blue Unicorn, while a third person cast ice spells at random intervals, which is where the ice seemed especially thick underfoot..

"Lyon." Gray cursed under his breath, running out to meet the ice mage.

"Oh hell." Crystal muttered, ducking under a misfired spell from the blue Unicorn. "Okay, fine. Magic, highly unpredictable. Ice magic, a lot more predictable." Crystal mumbled, weighing up the options of either helping Twilight or Gray. Running to the latter, she skidded on the slick ground, managing to bowl over Lyon in the process, falling onto him in a tangle of limbs.

"Seriously?" Gray asked incredulously.

"I did not intend for that to happen." Crystal groaned, untangling herself and standing up, trying to find purchase on the ice.

"I'll make sure it won't happen again, intentionally or not." Lyon answered, standing up and dusting himself off before throwing a single hand out, shouting "Ice-Make: Eagle!" At the same time.

"I am not having this." Crystal said and raising her arms up, created a crystal shield between herself and the eagles. She forgot that the eagles flew past every obstacle in their way, hitting their target dead on. Observing the eagles fly either over or around the shield, Crystal covered herself in flames and added a thick layer of black crystal to herself, hoping that would be enough to stop the attack. It wasn't. Most of them burned up but the last one Lyon had fired managed to catch her in the chest, causing her flames to go out as well as a massive crack in her armor forming where the living ice sculpture hit.

"Ice-Make: Shield!" Gray shouted, banging a fist into his open palm and quickly lowering himself, spread both arms wide open, barely managing to block Lyon's ice sword in time.

"When will you learn that I'm better than you!" Lyon snarled, jumping over the shield as he prepared for another attack.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie can see you're running out of power, Twilight Sparkle." Trixie grinned, sending a powerful bolt of red energy towards her. Twilight tried to counter it but found that it missed her completely, instead, it went over her head and towards one of the trapped citizens. The bolt hit, causing the unfortunate to age rapidly into the ripe old age of ninety.

"An age spell? When did you learn how to cast an age spell?" Twilight asked, her mouth hanging open as she tried to breathe to get some energy back.

Not bothering to answer, Trixie smirked and levitated Twilight towards her. "I win." Trixie said softly, teleporting Twilight out of Ponyville and deep into the Everfree.

"I did not see that coming." Crystal commented watching Twilight vanish. She then turned her attention back to her own fight, firing off a stream of flames towards Lyon. He dodged under them, getting up close so he could rapidly punch her. He was stopped by Gray slamming an ice hammer into his back, making him fall flat on his face, effectively cracking the ice.

Feeling heat come closer, Crystal turned and inhaled, swallowing the flames while looking Trixie with a grin. "Got anymore where they came from?" She asked, moving closer to her, knowing that Gray will be able to handle Lyon.

"Uum." Trixie blinked, not even sure how to respond to that.

"You will pay for that!" Lyon shouted, standing up and covering one of his hands in ice. Once he finished, it ended up looking like a wolf's head. Satisfied with it, he charged Gray, sending multiple punches his way, the magic in the wolf causing him to punch faster and harder than normal. Gray grunted with each punch, ineffectively protecting himself from each punch by moving his arms to where he thought they would be, only for them to appear in another place entirely.

"You know, single-hand-use is unbalanced." Gray tittered, managing to jump back and up to a nearby roof, getting away from the flurry.

"You going to do something or do I have to burn you to make you talk?" Crystal asked, threatening Trixie by lighting her palm on fire.

"I … uhh, no?" Trixie asked hopefully, slowly backing away from the pyromaniac.

"Too bad. I don't like the fact you teleported Twilight anyway." Crystal said with a shrug, pointing her finger at Trixie's arm, sending a small stream of flames towards it. They made contact, making Trixie scream as she desperately tried to put the burn out. "It's just a burn. Seriously, you can barely see it." Crystal said nonchalantly. She walked closer and grabbed Trixie where she got burned, and gripped hard. "You going to make me disappear too or are you admitting defeat?"

Lyon growled, jumping up to Gray, only to find a double-handed ice battle axe come towards him. Not being able to do anything in time to stop it, he let it hit him, sending him crashing back down to earth.

Gray crouched on the side of the building, smirking at him. "I told you using one hand unbalances the ice magic." Gray said, looking to see if Lyon would retaliate. He did but it was with a giant ice dragon. Eyes opening wide, he managed to dodge the first strike, the dragon making part of the roof collapse in on itself. Still falling through the air, the dragon turned around and crashed into him, sending him flying across the marketplace and into an apple stall, making it collapse around him as the dragon turned around to attack once more.

Seeing this, Crystal dropped the still stunned Trixie onto her feet and ran up to the dragon, breathing fire onto it to see if it would melt. It didn't. Instead, Lyon directed it to attack Crystal, grinning maliciously.

Seeing it switch targets immediately, Crystal stopped her breathing and covered herself in a thick layer of crystal, most of it being concentrated around her stomach. Crisscrossing her arms in an x formation, she tried to see if that would stop it. It still managed to get through her defenses and plowed into her, sending her skidding across the ice and crashing into Trixie, bowling her over.

Trixie fell and tried to break her fall by throwing her hands out but was saved from the horror of her arms breaking by Lyon catching her. He looked at her with a smile and placed her back on her feet before turning to face down Gray, who had just gotten out of the wreckage of the apple stall.

Gray jumped down, panting as he wiped his mouth and breathed out cold air, looking at Lyon with tired eyes. "Ur would be disappointed you were doing this." He said simply, walking slowly towards Lyon, getting ready to unleash another spell.

"Ur? Disappointed? Are you kidding? I've surpassed Ur! She should be proud of what I've done!" Lyon said maniacally, throwing his arms wide as he cackled.

"Proud? You think our master would be proud?" Gray asked, pouring more into his ice spell, getting enraged at what Lyon was saying.

"Oh, most definitely." Lyon answered, smirking and laughing darkly as he gathered ice in his dominant hand. Spinning around, he then threw his hand out, making an ice serpent appear and fly straight towards Gray.

Gray threw both his arms out, creating a massive ice shield that the serpent rammed against repeatedly. Panting at feeling the last dregs of his magic, Gray ran out from behind the shield and formed an ice cannon, aiming it directly at Lyon. Pulling the ice string, it fired an iceball and barreled into him, making Lyon cough in pain as specks of blood flew out his mouth.

Dissolving the crystal around herself, Crystal hesitantly got up, ears ringing as she tried to figure out if the fighting had ended or not. Turning slowly on the spot, she found that Lyon and Gray were just about to have a final confrontation while Trixie stood blankly, looking at her partner weirdly. Giving a sigh, Crystal walked up to her and placed a hand on Trixie's shoulder.

Trixie tensed up and slowly turned her head to look at Crystal guiltily. "Trixie hopes you are not going to burn her again." Trixie said, glancing at the burn still on her arm.

"I won't, I just want you to do one thing for me. Otherwise I will make your shoulder hurt like hell." Crystal said, tightening her grip ever so slightly.

"What?"

"Bring Twilight back." Crystal said simply.

"Of course. Trixie is surprised Twilight Sparkle hasn't made her way back yet already though." Trixie answered, immediately teleporting Twilight out of the Everfree.

"Thanks for bringing me back." Twilight gasped, placing a hand on her forehead as she looked at both of Trixie's and Crystal's faces. Trixie looked apologetic while Crystal looked relieved.

"At least you're back." Crystal said, taking her hand off of Trixie's shoulder. Trixie winced when she did, immediately feeling a slight burn on her shoulder.

An explosion of ice caused a mini blizzard to form, temporarily obscuring the marketplace from view. At the epicentre was Gray and Lyon, locked in an evenly matched melee fight.

"Give up! It's over!" Gray panted, trying to get Lyon to stop.

"I won't! Not until I've finally defeated you!" Lyon panted, putting just as much strength as Gray was into this final showdown.

"Well then you're going to have to wait a while longer." Gray said, headbutting Lyon hard. Lyon's head jerked back, taking his body with him as he fell backwards into unconsciousness. "That took a lot longer than I thought it would," Gray frowned, stepping over Lyon before leaning down near his head. "You really need to learn when I'm just not worth it and that you should probably try and find some new goal in life or something like that." He told him and stood up, trying to disperse the ice crystals as he walked to where he last saw the newcomer.

"Will you be fine now, Trixie?" Twilight asked her, having talked through a little bit of what drove Trixie to do this in the first place.

"Trixie is sure. She just wants to make sure Lyon is okay." Trixie said, gesturing to where she last saw him. Taking the amulet off from around her neck, Trixie shuddered as the extra power left her, transferring back into the amulet.

"He's fine." Gray said, shrugging with his hands in his pockets, walking up to the trio.

"You still haven't put any clothes on." Crystal muttered under her breath, looking at Twilight pointedly. "What were you doing in the Everfree to not actually have you come back here?" Crystal asked her, watching out of the corner of her eye, Trixie slowly walk up to Lyon.

"Where Trixie sent me was a flowery meadow, in the middle of the Everfree. I actually managed to study it and the surrounding area before Trixie brought me back." Twilight explained, eyeing Crystal with a slightly suspicious look as she saw her tense at the mention of the meadow.

"We'll talk about the meadow tomorrow, in private." Crystal said quickly, noticing Gray cock his head at that as well as Twilight's suspicious look.

"I don't even want to know what you two are talking about but, you." Gray said, scratching the back of his head with one hand and pointing at Crystal with the other. "What's your name and why were you in the guild building?" Gray asked.

"My name is Crystal. I was there because Levy invited me." Crystal answered simply, covering her mouth as she yawned softly.

"Levy? You the one she wouldn't stop talking about from the Crystal Empire?" Gray asked, eyes blinking rapidly.

"I suppose so. What did she say?"

"Only that you helped her out with a couple of things on her job." Gray said, shrugging. "No big deal. But, you should come back with me anyway. The Master will want to hear about you." Gray said, giving Crystal a smile. "Levy also let it slip that you were from another world. It'll be interesting to hear about this."

"Fine, you got me convinced." Crystal said, raising her arms up in mock surrender. "What about all the snow and ice here though?"

"It'll melt overnight." Gray said flippantly, leading Crystal back to the guild.

"Hang on a sec. I just need to get a couple of things from the castle in the Everfree. I'll catch up with you at the guild in a bit." Crystal said quickly, rushing off to go and grab her vest, as well as a roll of bandages for her chest to hopefully make it stop bouncing every time she moved.

Twilight merely raised an eyebrow at Crystal's odd behaviour with the meadow but gave a look over to Trixie and Lyon when a red flash appeared and disappeared in their direction.

"I just hope Trixie doesn't get into any more trouble later on down the line." Twilight said in worry. While thinking about her home, she teleported there to do some light reading by taking out the thickest book she could find in her library. She then closed it with a loud thud and looked out the window to where she knew the marketplace would be, thinking about all the damage their fight had done. "That's going to be a lot of paperwork Princess Celestia will send my way." Twilight said with a groan, rubbing her temples to soothe her nerves.


	12. Meeting a Dragon Part 1

"Let's see here. No ice, check. Building repairs … still ongoing." Twilight said with a frown, walking through the marketplace as she checked off the list Celestia had sent her. Usually the list would be sent to the local guild but this was a special case, considering Twilight was a part of the fight that took place, even if it was brief. She helped out Makarov from time to time when he was overloaded with paperwork from the princesses, as well as a few of the other guild masters around Canterlot but mostly stuck to Makarov for convenience's sake. Recognising Gray from the day before, Twilight tapped her quill against the paper, marking her place before walking up to him.

"Have you seen Crystal? She said that she had to talk to me about something today." Twilight asked, watching him lean against the wall with his hands in his pockets.

"Last I saw, I punched her through some sort of flame portal after grabbing her vest." Gray said casually.

"You what?" Twilight asked, faint surprise evident on her face.

"What? She wanted to see how she would fare against me." Gray answered, moving away from the wall and turning towards the guild. "If you want, you can come with and ask the others. I'm sure they'll say the same thing." He continued, looking back to see if Twilight would follow.

"You took her vest as well?" Twilight asked. standing in place as she watched him move away.

"I gave it back after she yelled at me." Gray shrugged, leading her to the guild. He then stopped and began to walk back toward her.

"Nope, I'm not dealing with her." Gray said as he walked passed a confused Twilight. Looking to where Gray had a little bit earlier, she found Pinkie skipping along the way.

"Hey Pinkie! Did you do something to Gray?" Twilight asked when Pinkie drew near.

"Did I? I don't remember. It's good to see you though!" Pinkie answered, giving Twilight a hug.

"We see each other every day though." Twilight pointed out, hugging her marefriend back.

"I know, it just makes the day a bit brighter whenever I say that to you though." Pinkie replied with a smile. "What were you and Gray talking about?"

"About him punching Crystal into a portal, which I suspect leads to another Equestria." Twilight said, moving back a bit to gauge her reaction.

"He punched Crystal into another Equestria." Pinkie asked, getting a furious look. "In her state!?"

"Wait, wait. Calm down. What are you talking about?" Twilight asked, putting her arms up to try and console the distraught mare. "What state is Crystal in? She said that she was going to talk to me about something today. Could this be related to that?"

"Maybe, I dunno. But if she hasn't told anyone yet, then she most likely will very soon." Pinkie said through gritted teeth, still furious at Gray. "Now I just need to go give Gray a lesson in respecting women."

"Would it help that she asked him to fight her?" Twilight said helpfully, lifting a finger as she turned to watch Pinkie stalk to Gray.

"How could she even think of …" Pinkie's voice trailed away, arms up in the air as she grumbled to herself while chasing after Gray.

"I'll never understand her." Twilight muttered, doing what Gray suggested and heading to the guild. Once she arrived, she magicked open one of the doors and stepped inside, gazing at the oddly placid atmosphere. "This seems wrong." She said aloud, wondering why no-one was shouting and having fun. Walking through the many tables in the centre of the room, Twilight made her way to the bar in the back.

"Is there any reason why they're like this?" Twilight looked down at Makarov, seeing the very small man sitting on the countertop, his staff across his lap as he drank from a mug.

On his head, he wore and orange striped hat that ended in a couple of tails. He had a bushy white moustache that covered his mouth completely. On his upper half, he wore a white undershirt with a black Fairy Tail mark stamped on to the front of it. An orange hoody with blue cuffs rested on his shoulders. Orange shorts were on his legs and to top it off, he wore shoes that had curled-up tips.

"Didn't Gray tell you what he did?" Makarov asked, sighing as he finished his mouthful.

"Yes, but I didn't really believe it. Plus, Gray punching someone into another universe seemed highly unlikely. No-one is that strong." Twilight answered, turning around and leaning against the bar next to him.

"Gray needs some answering to do if this new girl doesn't show up within the next twenty four hours." Makarov replied, trying to think of someway to cheer the guild up.

"Master, can you come up here?" A woman's voice called out from the balcony above.

"What is it, Mirajane?" Makarov asked roughly, placing his mug on the counter and standing up to stretch.

"One of the 'S-Class' jobs are gone!' She called out, but her voice sounded a bit further away.

"WHAT!?" Makarov thundered, causing everyone in the guild to stare at him in shock.

* * *

"Gray, you bastard! Give me my vest back!" She shouted at the flames, standing up and stomping back to the flames. Out of them, a black vest with gold trim flew out, smacking her in the face. Growling, she grabbed her vest and chucked it back at the flames, only for them to no longer be there. "I hate it when he does that," She muttered, stretching her back and cracking a few bones.

"Having a little spat with your boyfriend?" Draigo asked with a smirk on his face.

"He's not my boyfriend." The girl replied angrily, walking to her vest and picking it up, not even bothering to turn around at the voice.

"If you say so. Is this your scarf? I was kind of expecting a guy since the voice I heard was definitely male," Draigo said as he unwound the scarf and floated it over to the girl using a bit of wind.

Quickly dusting the vest, she put it on and left it hanging open. Finally looking up, she found the scarf he was talking about. Quickly grabbing it, she wrapped it around her neck and sighed at the familiar comfort.

"Definitely mine. The message you heard was when I was male. I actually am the person you summoned, I just had a bit of a gender swap." She answered, turning around and brushing her pink bangs out of her face.

Draigo grew back to his full size as the girl before him wrapped the scarf around her neck. He then checked on Twilight inside of the library. Twilight was still looking for a book that could help him. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, was hovering next to Draigo's head with her mouth wide open.

"How did you do that? One moment there's nothing, then a pillar of flame, and then this weird thing pops out of nowhere. Your powers are even stranger than I thought they were, Draigo," Dash said as she gestured with her hooves.

"Oh, this isn't my doing. What summoned her was the scarf and the action of wrapping it around my neck," Draigo explained to the bewildered pegasus, "What is your name, young lady?"

"Crystal," Crystal answered, gaping up at him when she finally saw what belonged to the voice. "You are a dragon. That is awesome!" She crowed. Finally registering what the blue pony said, she glared up at her. "I'm not a thing. I'm just weird."

"You're the first whatever you are that I've seen. So, you're a 'weird thing' for now," Dash told her as she flew down to Crystal's level.

"Crystal is a human, Dash. Most Displaced are," Draigo told Dash as he lowered his head and looped his neck around so that they had a bit more privacy from prying eyes.

"Those things that Lyra keeps going on and on about? I thought they were a myth." Dash commented as she flew around Crystal to inspect the new arrival.

"I don't remember meeting this 'Lyra' before, but humans like Crystal, and myself actually, aren't a myth. Now, Crystal. You've got two choices. One, stay here and wait for the biggest nerd on the planet to find out about you arriving and then asking you more questions than any school test ever. Or two, come with me to a more secluded area for a nice chat and possibly a bit of sparring." Draigo gestured towards the library as he mentioned the 'nerd' and then towards the lake in the distance for the secluded area.

Crystal's eyes followed Dash as she shuddered at the mention of the 'nerd'. Wrapping her arms around herself, she looked towards the lake that the dragon had gestured to for the second option. "The second option sounds a lot better to me. Also, I don't think I caught your name." She cocked her head to the side as she rubbed her arms up and down.

"Ah, where are my manners. My name is Draigo. Are you cold? I can help warm you up as we fly to the lake if you'd like," Draigo told her as he extended one of his claws out for her to climb onto.

"Nah, I'm not cold. I never get cold. This just helps comfort me." Crystal explained and felt a bit queasy at the mention of flying. "Also, I think I'd rather not fly. I get motion sickness if I ride something I don't consider a friend. Sorry about that, Draigo." Crystal told him, stopping the rubbing of her arms.

"That's quite alright, Crystal. That is a strange quirk you've got, though. Hmm, think you can run to the lake without completely exhausting yourself?" Draigo asked as he stood up and extended his wings.

"Ha! Of course, I can. I'll even race you there." Crystal said with a snort of laughter, getting into a running stance.

"A race? Count me in," Dash said as she landed next to Crystal.

"Alright, don't cry when you lose, Crystal," Draigo said as he got ready to take off, "Ready, set, go!"

Draigo took off with a massive sweep of his wings, knocking the two below him to the ground from the sheer amount of air that he displaced. Dash was quick to recover and was soon in hot pursuit. Cartwheeling sideways to recover, Crystal took off after them, her legs pumping as she slowly caught up to them.

"Oh, she's not so slow after all. Try to keep up with this then," Dash challenged as she shot forward, creating her signature rainbow contrail behind her.

"Not this time, Dash," Draigo called to her as he increased his wing beats and parted the air in front of him with his powers to give him a little edge.

"You two won't get away that easy. Karyū no Kagizume!" Crystal shouted as her feet lit on fire, effectively propelling her forward as she jumped in the air and made herself perpendicular to the ground.

It wasn't long before all three of them were at the lake and cooling down from their race. Rainbow had won, but just marginally. Draigo had gotten second, but only due to how long his neck was since Crystal had propelled herself through the air like a rocket. They sat or laid on the ground and enjoyed the sun and scenery around them.

"So, Crystal. You've got fire abilities. Anything else?" Draigo asked as he laid spread out to absorb as much sun as possible.

"I can literally stand in the middle of a patch of flames and not get burned. I can also make crystal." Crystal answered, holding her palm out and focussing on it. A small crystal shard formed from her skin and the sun reflected off of it, creating spots of light that were dotted around them. "That's about the extent of my powers. I can create more than this, I just don't want to exhaust myself." She added as she leaned back on one of her hands, her vest on the ground nearby.

"Oh? Sounds like some of the dragons that I created," Draigo said matter of factly as he levitated the crystal over to him to get a better look at it.

"There is no way you created the dragons. For one, they're missing or presumed dead. Two, you don't look like something that managed to create awesome, flying lizards." Crystal said in disbelief, sitting up and adjusting the bandages on her chest.

"Ah, mortals and their disbelief," Draigo said with a sigh, "Okay, dragons may be gone from your world, but they are thriving in mine. Describe a dragon you'd like to see."

"How about one with red scales and orange spikes?" Crystal asked, not really believing him.

Draigo tapped into his power reserves and began creating the described dragon. The outline first appeared in the air and then got more and more detailed. As it turned solid, the colors of its scales and spines began to show. Finally, once it was completely solid and had its spikes, wings, and everything else it dropped to the ground with a soft thump. The dragon stood up and looked at Crystal. It wasn't very big, about the size of Spike, but it walked on all four legs toward the girl before it.

Staring in awe with her mouth gaping open, Crystal watched as Draigo created the dragon she asked for. When it began to move around and walk towards her, she slowly closed her mouth and watched it as she gently petted its head.

"Wow … it's gorgeous … you are an amazing individual." Crystal breathed and praised him.

"Heh, he's not even the most amazing that I've made. Heck, I made two kinds of dragons. A winged dragon, like him and me, and a more Asian style dragon." Draigo said as he shrugged off the praise, "When you've got nothing but time and powers like that you tend to experiment and fine tune the creation process."

"Sounds like you had a good time creating the dragons." Crystal said with a smile and felt her belly rumble. "Got any fire? I'm hungry, or at least, that's what my stomach is telling me." Crystal asked, stopping her petting for a bit to stretch her arms.

"Does it matter about the heat or color of the fire?" Draigo asked as he quirked an eye ridge at the strange request.

"Not really. I just want it to give me some energy back." Crystal said with a shrug, not phased by the strange look both of them were giving her.

"Wait, you're going to use fire to give you some energy? Do you eat it or something?" Rainbow asked as she trotted over to the lake and splashed some water on herself.

"I eat it. That not a normal thing here? Eating flames?" Crystal wondered, watching Rainbow intently.

"No, eating flames isn't normal here. I can technically eat anything and everything to gain energy, but fire isn't usually one of my choices," Draigo explained as he looked to where Crystal was watching so intensely, "Something wrong with Rainbow or do you like her rump that much?"

"Rainbow's a pony here. I was too busy looking around to notice it before." Crystal answered, tearing her gaze from Rainbow and back to Draigo as the rest of his question registered with her. "No, I'm actually into someone else," Crystal replied, drawing circles as she looked at the ground near her legs.

"Of course I'm a pony. What else would I be? Don't worry about the staring. I'm just too awesome for ponies not to," Rainbow told her cockily as she trotted back to the group.

"Oh? Someone I know or perhaps someone unique to your world?," Draigo asked her as he summoned a crimson flame onto his now open claw, "Here's that fire you asked for."

"More like a whole different world but I can't say anything more beyond that," Crystal answered Draigo cautiously. "Back on my world, you look more human than pony but still have pony traits, such as your wings and rainbow trail." She continued, turning her attention to Rainbow, and continuing to look down at the ground. She looked up though at the mention of a flame. Standing up, she walked over to Draigo and grabbed the flame in her hands. "Thanks for the meal," She said, thanking him and then stuffed the fire into her open mouth.

"Huh, looking like a human...that just seems weird to me. Anyway, I'm going to go find a nice cloud and chill for awhile." Rainbow said as she readied herself for flight.

Right before Rainbow could take off, the trees nearby shook violently and the birds took to the air in alarm. Out of the forest walked a white dragon with a serpentine body, no wings, and two horns protruding from its skull. It looked like the exact opposite of Draigo and its gaze swept over to the three as they stared at the newcomer.

"There you are, Draigo. It has been a long journey, but I can finally challenge you. Come and meet your fate you fake god," the dragon shouted at him.

"Oh, long time no see, Shen Long. You've come all the way across the world and the first thing you want to do is die? What a shame. You used to be such a great dragon. I remember the day that I first created you. How long has it been now? Five, six million years?" Draigo asked as if the answer didn't really matter.

"It has been four billion years. You created me and my mate, then you left. It was only a few years ago that I realized that you truly aren't the god of dragons. Now you must pay for your deceit. I've trapped your energy in this artifact and now that you're powerless, I can kill you and rule over all the dragons." Shen Long brought out an artifact that looked like a pendant made for a dragon his size.

"Hmm, as interesting as that would be, I've got a guest. Besides, I doubt you could beat her, let alone me. If you need me to stop the fight I will, Crystal," Draigo said as he stood. He towered over Shen Long at nearly double the size overall.

"You think I can't beat this little...thing? That is insulting. Come little beast, I'll use you as a warm up for my fight with Draigo," Shen Long said as he stalked toward Crystal.

"Yeah, yeah, give me a sec," Crystal mumbled, waving a hand at the white dragon while she tightened the bandages around her chest.

Shen Long didn't wait and launched a torrent of fire at her as she was adjusting her bandages.

Not bothering to look up as the flames hit her, she automatically opened up her mouth and sucked the flames in, feeling more energy coalesce inside her than before. Once she was done tightening her bandages, she smirked at the dragon.

"Double meal. First time for everything. You ready to start?" She asked, standing still with her hands on her hips while bouncing on the balls of her feet lightly.

Shen Long wasn't fazed by his flames being consumed and took a swipe at her with one of his claws followed close behind by his other.

Crystal backflipped as she dodged the first swipe and feeling the air part, felt herself thrown far off to the side, making a crater where she landed. "That hurt my everything." She groaned once she stopped and held her side as she stood up, feeling her hand become sticky with blood.

"Draigo, you'd let such a frail thing fight your battles for you? Not only are you a fake and an abandoner, but now you are honorless as well," Shen Long spat at Draigo, "Small being, why not join me in battling Draigo. It would bring much honor to you and would save you from an all but certain death at my claw."

"She doesn't have to listen to your deluded speeches, Shen. Also, from the little I've seen of her abilities, you're in for more of a fight than you think," Draigo commented as he looked down at Shen Long, "Rainbow, go tell Twilight to send a message to Celestia for aid," Draigo whispered to Rainbow as the pegasus hovered next to his head.

"On it," Rainbow replied as she sped off toward the library.

Growing crystal around the wound, Crystal figured it would have to do for now as she ran towards Shen Long with a slight limp. "Hey, you dragon reject! I'm still here!" Crystal shouted as she gathered flames in both of her fists. Combining both of them, she clapped her hands together and shot a massive fireball towards the dragon.

Shen Long turned toward the diminutive being and couldn't react as the fireball connected with his head. He had figured that since it was fire that he wouldn't be affected by it and cried out in pain and shock as the fireball exploded. Quite a few scales flew from him, leaving the skin beneath exposed.

"I was going to let you live, but now I'll make sure your death is slow and painful," Shen Long said as he took in a breath and released a torrent of water from his maw.

"I wouldn't have taken the offer anyway." Crystal retorted and her eyes widened when she saw the torrent of water come for her. "Draigo, I need your help here!" She shouted as she skidded to a stop before the wall of water, knowing that she won't be able to stop it. Draigo immediately parted the water around Crystal and into the lake behind her.

"Well, Shen. It seems your warm-up is over," Draigo said as he stepped between him and Crystal, "Get to a safe distance. Help should arrive soon."

"Got it," Crystal said, silently thanking him for stepping in. Looking for a place that would be far enough away, she spotted a hill behind the flattened trees. She bolted for it, shedding her crystal shell along the way.

"Now, you get the fight you wanted, Shen," Draigo said as he slowly walked toward his created 'son'.

Shen Long took the opportunity to launch an all-out attack against Draigo as he walked forward. Blast after blast of water and fire erupted toward Draigo as Shen Long attempted to overwhelm him.

Draigo was unphased by the onslaught. He used his magical might to make both fire and water go harmlessly into the sky. Once he reached Shen Long, Draigo unleashed a flurry of blows. Claws, teeth, and wings went into a blur as they struck at Shen Long. Draigo adjusted where he aimed his attacks with each new blow so that Shen Long wouldn't be able to block or redirect them.

Blood, scales, and flesh flew in every direction as the fury that fueled Draigo shone in his eyes. Never before had Draigo felt such a burning feeling. He continued to attack and demolish the form before him even well after Shen Long's life had ended.

Draigo suddenly stopped as he felt something touch down on his back. Looking back, he saw Princess Celestia with a look of concern on her muzzle. It was only then that Draigo looked back and saw what had become of Shen Long. The lower half of Shen Long's body was intact but broken while the only evidence that was left of the upper body was strewn about the area.

Having gotten to the hill, Crystal turned to see the tail-end of the fight. This made her eyes widen in horror at the sheer ferocity that Draigo fought with. The crystal around the wound in her side dissolved as she sat in shock, making it bleed out and herself to slowly fall unconscious.

"Hold still, young one. We shall treat thy wounds whilst my sister calms Draigo," Luna said as she touched down next to Crystal. Crystal couldn't do a thing as she shivered uncontrollably due to being unconscious from the loss of blood.

After Draigo had calmed down sufficiently, he looked back at Crystal with concern etched onto his features.

"Worry not, Draigo. Our magics are strong and she shall make a full recovery within a couple of hours," Luna told him as he looked down at them both.

"Thank you for coming so quickly. It can't have been easy. Allow me to carry her to the castle so that she can rest and be attended to as needed," Draigo said to both Luna and Celestia as he picked Crystal up and started the flight back to the castle.

* * *

After a couple hours of rest at the castle and some more tending to by medical ponies, Crystal began to stir from her sleep. Draigo took notice of this since he hadn't left her side and brought over a glass of water and a pitcher.

With Crystal's eyes fluttering open, she felt a residual stinging pain in her side as she groaned. "My everything hurts." She said softly and slowly sitting up, Crystal took the offered glass of water and then a sip later, she coughed, a speck of blood flying out and into the water.

"Damn, if only I could use my Aether right now I'd be able to fully heal you in an instant. I'll see if there's a medical staff member outside the door," Draigo said as he observed the blood in the water and then opened the door to check outside. What he found surprised him. Celestia and Luna were waiting just outside, looking worried and overworked. "Perfect timing, ladies. Would you cast another healing spell on Crystal? She just coughed up a bit of blood," Draigo asked the two.

"Certainly, I had hoped she'd be doing much better by now," Celestia commented as she walked into the room with Luna and Draigo close behind her.

After having seen the blood fly into the glass, Crystal carefully put it aside and gingerly checked herself for other scratches the medical staff may have missed. Feeling something sticky along her abdomen, Crystal looked down and found a fine scratch stretching across it, weeping tiny drops of blood.

"How did that get there?" She asked herself softly and looked up when she heard hooves on the floor. "You must be the Princesses," She observed, suddenly going into a coughing fit.

Seeing this, Celestia immediately cast her healing spell and held until well after the coughing fit was done, "You are correct. I am Princess Celestia and this is my sister, Princess Luna. How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling better. Well, better than I was after the fight." Crystal answered, leaning forward as she crossed her arms over her abdomen. "I still feel pain in my side, but it should go away in a bit," She added.

"Thou must be more resistant to magic than We first thought. Our healing spells should have mended all the injuries thou hast sustained," Luna commented with a little worry showing on her face.

"What kind of magic did you use?" Crystal asked in return as she tensed up at Luna's comment.

"You are very welcome, Crystal. We used basic healing magic that we ramped up a bit to compensate for the size difference between you and the typical pony. While you were out, Draigo filled us in on the events of earlier today. The battle was seen by almost all of Ponyville since it involved colossal sized dragons. I think the one most affected by it was Spike. He doesn't really know the customs of the dragons here and was shocked when he found out that the entire fight was basically for 'leadership over the dragons'. Anyway, these events have not affected the gala's schedule and we would love to have you if you are feeling up to it," Celestia informed them as she used her magic to scan Crystal for any missed injuries.

"Oh. Thank you for that then." Crystal said, visibly relaxing. "I would love to come to the gala. Only problem is, I've never been to any sort of dance or worn a dress before." She continued, not noticing Princess Celestia's scan. "I'm sure I'll feel up to it by the time it rolls around."

"Oh, don't worry. I'll be going as well and I've never been either. Celestia has told me about past galas, though," Draigo said and then leaned closer to Crystal, "I've got a plan to liven it up and you're welcome to join in." Draigo winked and then produced some flames, "Here, try eating something. It'll probably help the healing process."

"I'm never one to say no to a free meal," Crystal said with a soft smirk and taking the flames Draigo gave her, slowly started to eat them. "Of course, I'll definitely join in on whatever plan you have," Crystal said through a mouthful of crackling flames.

"Well, we shall leave you since we have to organize the rest of the gala," Luna commented as she left the room.

"Crystal, with your permission I'd like to try using a different healing spell on you since you're still coughing up blood, have stinging on your side and have a bun in the oven. It's a spell I've been developing in hopes of it affecting Draigo, should he need it. It's been in development ever since the day Draigo told us about this 'war' he was recruited into," Celestia told her as Draigo smiled at the amount of care Celestia seemed to hold for him, even after she had beaten him silly.

"Ah, dammnit. I thought I wouldn't have to tell you about that." Crystal said, feeling angry at herself but it soon cleared. "You've got the permission for using the spell. As long as I know what it is, then I'm fine with it." She said.

Celestia lit her horn with her golden aura and it intensified as she started to cast the healing spell. Crystal's entire body became engulfed in the magic's golden aura as Celestia continued to cast the spell. This spell seemed to drain her quite a bit more than the spell before had. After several seconds of holding the spell in place, Celestia released the spell and scanned Crystal's body once more. When she found no wounds left she let out a triumphant cheer and her smile couldn't have been any bigger. The spell she'd been developing had worked and this gave her hope that she could succeed in healing Draigo in the future.

"The spell has worked like a charm and with no ill effects on the future generation. It seems that to heal you properly I had to treat you as if you were a dragon instead of a pony," Celestia told her with a big smile.

"Good to know," Crystal said with a relieved sigh. "I suppose that makes sense, though, considering I'm what's called a Dragon Slayer back in my world," She said absently as she did a check for herself. There wasn't any pain in her side and she didn't feel any blood coming up. "The spell really did work," Crystal confirmed.

"I'm glad to be of service. What do you mean by 'dragon-slayer', though," Celestia asked as she looked to see if Draigo reacted to this news?

"Ah, that would explain why your fire magic affected Shen Long. I doubt it would work the same on me, though," Draigo said as if he had heard that Crystal said something about the weather outside.

"Of course it won't. There are just as many Dragon Slayers as there are dragons. What I mean by Dragon Slayer is that a person or pony is taught magic by a dragon. This person or pony can then do all sorts of things, like, cover their body in whatever the dragon taught them and all sorts of stuff. If a Dragon Slayer actually kills a dragon, then they themselves become a dragon." Crystal explained, putting her hand on fire to demonstrate what she meant.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing that you didn't kill Shen Long. Unless you want to be a dragon," Draigo thought out loud, "Anyway, don't you have a gala to organize Celestia?"

"That I do. I'll see you two later," Celestia said as she trotted out of the room to help Luna with the gala preparations.

"Now that she's gone, I'll tell you my plan to liven up the gala," Draigo said as he closed the door so they could talk without being overheard.

"Which is what?" Crystal asked, placing a hand under her chin. "Whatever it is, it had better be good."

"Oh, it's good," Draigo said as he transformed into a human form with far less clothing than previously, "I'm going to show up in this form and have some music blaring as I burst through the doors and start doing muscle poses. If you join me then you wouldn't have to wear a dress and you'd be highly entertained by the looks on all of the attendants faces. Not to mention Celestia will be glad of the change of pace."

Crystal's jaw dropped when he transformed into a very muscular human with barely any clothing on. "I … um … words not working right now." She said, closing her mouth and blushing a bit. "That will, uuh, definitely liven up the gala," She added after a few moments of flapping her mouth open and closed. "How do I exactly fit into … this?" She asked, waving her arm at what he looked like.

"Well, you could be a female version of this and join in or you could distract the band that'll be playing so the music will be heard by everyone. I'm sure that the band will stop once the doors fly open and that the speakers that my other partner in crime will be using are going to be loud enough, but it is an alternative if you don't feel comfortable being like this in front of a giant crowd," Draigo told her as he paced back and forth.

"Female version sounds tempting," Crystal said slowly, looking down at herself and tried to imagine if she could actually pull it off. "I can't really see myself doing that. It's not that crowds frighten me, it's just I can't really see myself like you." Crystal said after careful consideration.

"If it's the amount of clothing that you wouldn't be wearing then rest assured. We'd have to go get you some sort of outfit since I'm just transforming into it and don't actually have any article of clothing. I'm not trying to persuade you, just clarifying what it would be like," Draigo said as he resumed his draconic form, "Oh, I forgot to mention that we'd be wearing masks so that we could slip away and then return later to enjoy the free food."

"The clothing doesn't bother me either. I don't even really care about the amount of clothing. It's just the muscles that I can't see myself having." Crystal clarified. "Masks are good to wear as well."

"Ah, self-image issues," Draigo said as he looked at the young woman before him, "Look, the only reason I'm doing muscle poses is because I can transform into what you saw before. You, on the other hand, have less muscle due to being a girl. So, instead of doing muscle poses, why don't you do poses that will show off that rocking body of yours? You have a body that a lot of ladies would kill to have."

"Oh, really? If that's all then I'm perfectly fine with the first option. Quick question, are there any clean bandages around? These seem to be sticky with something." Crystal agreed and pulled a bit at the bandages on her chest.

"I'm sure we can find you some in the medical wing as we go get the clothing you'll need. Oh, don't worry about the monetary value of the clothing. I've got more money and gems than I know what to do with and can create more if I really need to," Draigo said as he produced a ruby from out of nowhere to prove his point.

"Now I'm really sold if all the expenses are taken care of," Crystal said, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. She went to grab her vest, but she only grabbed air. "My vest must still be near the lake. If it wasn't shredded in the fight that is." Crystal said with a small frown, looking out the window.

"We can check for it later and if we can't find it I'll talk to Rarity about replacing it. She still owes me for saving her from some diamond dogs and if you can describe it she can make it," Draigo told her as he placed a claw on Crystal's shoulder to try to comfort her a bit.

"That would be great. I would ask my own Rarity to see if she could make it, but we're not exactly on the best of terms." Crystal said with a small sigh and looked over to the dragon. "We have a party to plan, don't we?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We do. Shall we get going? There are plenty of clothing stores here in Canterlot and my other partner in crime is here as well. We'll stop by the medical wing first, though," Draigo said as he walked out of the room and toward the medical wing of the castle.

"Sounds good to me. It'll be interesting to see who your other partner is." Crystal said, following him after closing the door behind them. "Something's been bugging me, though. Celestia said something about a 'war'. What 'war' is she talking about?"

"Oh, it's this stupid fight that two Displaced got into and the being that displaced them decided to turn it into a full-blown war between Displaced. Celestia and Luna shredded my wings and then made one of my legs useless while the others were heavily injured after I told them about it. The only reason I agreed to join was the chance to fight dragons that could possibly be close to my power," Draigo said, sounding very annoyed.

"I may have struck a nerve there. Now that you told me it's between a couple of powerful Displaced, I'd rather have Gray ice me over and over before going there." Crystal said with a slight shudder, feeling her bandages come loose a little as they neared the medical wing.

"It's just really, really stupid to turn a fight between two people into a 'war' that involves unrelated parties. The original two seem to be about the same power wise, but I'd love to just squash that stupid being who blew it out of proportion. Anyway, I'm rambling. Now, on to the shopping district," Draigo said as he navigated them through the castle hallways.

"Off to the clothes store are we? This'll be fun." Crystal told him, hugging herself and rubbing her arms up and down.

"Yep, my partner's hotel is close to the shopping district as well," Draigo told her as they neared the entrance to the castle, "I put her up there since she actually lives down in Ponyville. All in secret, of course."

"Of course. It's a she, is it? How did you bring her up here then? Mission Impossible style or just an airlift during the night." Crystal asked, placing her arms behind her head as they walked through the entrance.

"Oh, she just got a ride with a friend of hers who was already coming to Canterlot to perform at the gala," Draigo told Crystal as they continued to walk towards the clothes store, "That way she's not associated with me and the surprise has less chance of being found out."

"Aww. Thought it would have been more exciting than that." Crystal said with a slight frown but perked up a bit as she tried to figure out who the partner could be. "It makes sense, though, to not ruin the surprise."

"Oh, believe me. If she hadn't told me about her friend coming up here anyway, I would have flown her here myself during the night," Draigo admitted as the first store came into view, "Now, think about the outfit you'd like to wear. We'll be at the first store in a minute."

Crystal fell silent as she thought hard about what her outfit could be. Every once in awhile, as she thought of an outfit she liked the sound of, her face lit up, but that was it for any sort of communication Crystal had.

The first clothing store came into view and the pair entered the store as a bell jingled over their heads. The clothing inside of the store varied from high end to everyday. Most of the store was for mares and a bit of it for stallions. The clothing, though designed with ponies in mind, seemed like it could be simply modified to fit a bipedal frame.

As they were browsing through the clothes a salespony came trotting up to them. She was a tan-furred earth pony with a gray mane and tail with a spool of thread and a needle for her cutie mark.

"Hello and welcome to my store. Is there anything I can help you with?" the mare asked, she balked as she finally noticed that her two customers were a dragon and what looked like a very small minotaur without any horns.

"Yes, my friend is in need of some clothing for a costume party we'll be attending tonight," Draigo told the salespony.

"What kind of clothing are you looking for, ma'am?" the mare asked Crystal curiously.

"Do you have anything in red?" Crystal asked the pony, crouching so that she was eye to eye with the salespony.

"We have plenty of clothes made from red cloth. Are you looking for a dress, shirt, or something else?" she told Crystal as she trotted towards the fancier section of the store.

"I'm looking for a short dress … and a small shirt," Crystal said, her thoughts cycling through the outfits she had thought of before.

"Any particular material you'd like it to be made of?"

"Either satin or cotton. I haven't decided about that yet."

"Very well, we've got both and can make anything we don't already have made. Now, what kind of dress? Something poofy? Figure hugging?" the mare asked as she went through the dresses hanging up before her.

"I don't really like poofy so figure-hugging would be better for me," Crystal answered, leaning forward as she scanned the various articles of clothing. "Yeah, definitely figure-hugging," Crystal said as she thought through about the choice some more.

"Alright. Now, since you want a shirt as well. Did you want the dress to be backless and/or strapless?" the salespony asked as she brought a few dresses out that matched the criteria so far.

Crystal narrowed her eyes as she looked at the few different dresses. Running the choices through her mind once more, Crystal figured it would be better if she went backless but with straps to keep it in place.

"The backless strapped one sounds good to me," Crystal said, nodding to herself.

The salespony took away any dress that didn't match what Crystal wanted and left the two or three that still fit.

"Okay. Now that we've narrowed it down to these select few. Which would you like to try on?" the mare asked as she took each dress off the rack so Crystal could get a better view of them. All of the dresses were red and were backless with straps. Each were made of satin or cotton and had a slit for easier walking.

"Remember, the price doesn't matter and it's how you feel in the dress that really counts," Draigo chimed in from across the store. He'd stayed near the entrance since clothes were no longer necessary for him.

"Oh, right thanks for reminding me," Crystal called out to him. "Can I try this one on?" Crystal asked, showing the salespony the dress she had chosen.

"Of course, right this way," the mare said as she lead Crystal to the fitting rooms. Heading into one of them, Crystal closed the curtain and changed into the dress, leaving the bandages on underneath. Looking at herself in the mirror, Crystal ran her hands over her body and struck a few poses to see if the dress stretched well enough. Satisfied that it did, she changed back into her regular baggy pants and sandals and walked out of the change room, holding the folded dress in her arms.

"This one's perfect for me," She said with a beaming smile.

"Alright. How about the shirt then?"

"Anything orange for the shirt?" Crystal asked, tapping her finger against her chin.

"Orange is an unusual choice, but we do keep a few for those ponies that either choose it or have a color scheme that it would compliment," the mare remarked as she pulled out her selection of orange shirts.

"Yeah, well, I'm trying out a fire colour scheme. Orange and red sounded like good choices for that." Crystal retorted and took a look at the different shirts.

"I meant no offense. It's just that very few ponies wear orange except for when they need something that can be seen easily. Of course, you're not a pony...I digress," the salespony replied, "Will any of these shirts fit what you had in mind?"

Giving them a once over, Crystal touched one of them and found that she really liked the feel of it. Shifting her dress over to one arm, Crystal grabbed the shirt and showed the salespony the bright orange of it. "This one does. This one definitely fits my needs." Crystal said with a smile.

"Excellent, let me ring those up for you," the mare said as she trotted toward the register. Crystal followed her and looked over to Draigo to smile at him.

"Sorry this is taking so long," She told him once they got near.

"Not a problem, we've got plenty of time. Now, how much do I owe you?" Draigo asked as he walked toward the register to pay for the clothing.

"That'll be one hundred and eighty bits, please."

Draigo reached between his scales and pulled out the correct amount of bits, "Here you go."

"Thank you and come again," the salespony called to the pair as they left the store.

"Let's pick up some non-descript full face masks and then head to the hotel to meet with our other partner," Draigo said as he walked toward a magic tricks and prop shop.

"Sounds good to me," Crystal said, grabbing the clothes Draigo bought for her and carrying them in her arms, followed him to the store. "Thanks for paying for these by the way."

"You're very welcome. I'm glad that I could put some of my money to good use," Draigo said as he walked up to their next stop, "We should be able to find some masks in here."

Upon entering the store and being directed to where the masks were kept, the two found some masks that would work perfectly for their needs. They were soon paying for their masks and on their way to the hotel to meet with their fellow cohort.

"Now, the pony that you're about to meet doesn't know that I've added you into the plan. So, she might not talk about it until I can explain," Draigo said as they walked into the hotel.

"That's fine with me. I'll just stand quietly until you explain why there's another human in Equestria. That'll be great to listen to." Crystal said sarcastically.

"Right, I'll make it quick. I don't think she'll freak though since she lives in Ponyville. That place has a lot of odd occurrences and they tend to take everything in stride because of it. Unless it's something blatantly dangerous, then they tend to hide in their houses or nearby buildings," Draigo told Crystal as they stood outside the door of the pony's room, "None of them know I'm human, by the way. The only time I've been in my human form I was covered from head to toe in armor and they never saw what was underneath."

"Oh. Well, then you'll have to explain why TWO humans are in Equestria. But since you claim she's from Ponyville, I'm sure it will go over smoothly now that I'm thinking about it," Crystal said, cocking her head to the side.

"Yep, that's going to be a really fun conversation to have later on. For now, I'll just say that you are like me," Draigo said as he knocked on the door.

The two of them heard hoofsteps from behind the door. The sound stopped for a moment and then two thuds were heard as the door shook a little.

"Oh, it's you Draigo."

The pair then heard the locks on the door be undone. The door opened after a blue aura surrounded the doorknobs and the room's resident let them in. Draigo stepped through the doorway and then laid on one of the two beds in the room.

Scratching her head in confusion at who this 'partner' could be, she stepped through after Draigo and stood to the side awkwardly, rubbing one of her arms.

"Hi?" Crystal asked the pony, giving her a small wave.

"Sup, name's Vinyl Scratch," the pony said as she closed the door and then turned to face her two guests with her purple sunglasses covering her eyes. Vinyl was a white furred unicorn with a mane and tail that were blue and lighter blue striped. She used her magic and redid the locks on the door while facing the unknown being in the room.

"Vinyl, this is my friend Crystal. Crystal, this is Vinyl Scratch or DJ Pon-3," Draigo introduced the two, "Crystal here is like me and will be joining us tonight."

"So, we've got another shapeshifter, huh? Well, welcome aboard. Has Draigo told you what exactly is going to happen tonight?" Vinyl asked Crystal.

"He said something about bursting in a fanfare, striking poses, wearing masks, speaker hijacking, and the band, along with everyone else, having hilarious reactions." Crystal counted off on her fingers, placing her clothing on the other bed.

"Well, there won't be any speaker hijacking, but everything else is correct. I've got some portable speakers ready to go that will definitely overpower the band that's playing. I just hope Octavia doesn't get too mad at me. It never pays to have a roommate mad at you," Vinyl replied as she trotted over to the nearby desk chair and took a seat.

"I bet it doesn't. I've got an idea that could probably entertain the guests some more but may cause collateral damage. Wanna hear it?" Crystal asked, lying on her front on the bed.

"I'm all ears, my dear," Draigo said as he turned his head toward Crystal.

"We could put on a fire show. After the posing, I figured we could dance while doing some fire tricks." Crystal suggested.

"Ah, that would add a bit more of a 'wow' factor to it. Celestia and Luna will most likely know who's responsible, even if we didn't do the fire show. So, let's do it," Draigo responded with a grin.

Crystal gave a whoop and pumped her fist in the air. accidentally sending a crystal shard into the ceiling. Looking up, Crystal grimaced at it. "Whoops. I thought I had a handle on that."

"No worries. If your powers are similar to mine then the more emotional you get the more they are affected. For example, I lost my temper a while back and created a pillar of flame that took out almost an entire hectare of land and extended so far into the sky that I was afraid I'd catch the atmosphere on fire," Draigo told the young dragon-slayer.

"You did what?" Crystal said in astonishment, her eyes blinking owlishly. "What on earth could get you so riled up like that?"

"A very bad memory that I thought was buried. It was of the gypsy who displaced me and my first experience with the void," Draigo growled when he thought of the gypsy, "Thankfully some stupid diamond dogs decided to kidnap Rarity while I happened to be watching and I was able to calm myself even further."

Crystal put her hands up in the air, making her head fall to into the mattress. "Sorry I brought it up. Didn't think you would act this way." Crystal apologized, but it was muffled due to her face being squished into the mattress.

Draigo sighed, "No, I'm the one that's sorry. It's something that I should be over. Sure it's a bad memory and if that specific gypsy shows up here, somehow, I'd love to give her a piece of my mind. None of that is a good reason to lose my temper or growl. You'd think that a being of my age would be able to get over something like that. Heh, some primordial dragon I turned out to be. Can't even act properly."

"You'd think but frankly, some things are hard to get over. Especially if you hate that thing with a passion." Crystal told him, lifting her head up and resting it on her now-lowered arms. "Vinyl, what song you going to use for the plan?"

"Well, the song for when you two burst in is called 'The Pillar Men Theme'. Since you want to dance afterward and show off your fire stunts. I'll have to come up with something appropriate. Any suggestions?" Vinyl replied as she propped her head on one of her hooves.

"Hmm. How about 'I Burn Remix'? Do you have that one?" Crystal asked, lifting her head up slightly.

"Does it sound like this?" Vinyl replied as she played the song she hoped Crystal meant. Bobbing her head to the beat, Crystal gave a soft smile, showing her sharp teeth a bit.

"That's the song," Crystal replied.

"Well, now that the songs have been chosen and Vinyl knows about you joining us. How about we go look for your vest? If I fly us we can be there in twenty minutes. We've still got a few hours before the majority of the crowd is at the gala," Draigo said as he looked at the clock between the two beds.

"My vest? I almost forgot about that!" Crystal exclaimed, shooting straight up. "Of course you can fly us there. I just hope it's not in pieces." Crystal added, blinking a bit as she looked out the window.

"Alright, let's go," Draigo said as he jumped out the window and hovered in place.

"We'll see you later, Vinyl." Crystal said, and giving her a wave, ran up to the window and jumped out, landing on Draigo's back. "To the lake!" Crystal announced grandly, pointing to where said lake was.

"To the lake it is," Draigo replied as he sped away towards the lake in question. He grew to his full size once he was far enough away to not smash any buildings and increased his speed. The pair were by the lake in no time and began searching for Crystal's vest.

As soon as they touched down, Crystal immediately ran to the place where she last saw her vest. By the lakeside. Quickly moving her hands over the ground, Crystal couldn't feel any sort of cloth there. Scanning as well as using her hands, she tried to see if she could spot the vest.

"Found it!" Crystal cried out, spotting it floating in the lake. Running up to the lake's edge, Crystal jumped in and began to swim out to it. Grabbing it, she tread water and held it up triumphantly.

Draigo tapped into his power and brought Crystal back to shore in a sphere of water, "Blast, that drain is still there. I guess I forgot to destroy that thing Shen was using to steal away my power."

Crystal smiled at him as he brought her to shore. "I can find the pendant for you!" Crystal announced, swimming to the edge of the sphere and sliding out, shaking herself to get most of the water off her.

"Sure, shouldn't be too hard since it's sized for a dragon," Draigo answered as he watched the happy woman below him.

"Shen Long was here … wasn't he?" Crystal asked as she ran to the previously known location. "So it should be somewhere around here. Or maybe on his … body …" Crystal trailed off as she observed the mutilated remains of the white dragon.

"I'll search his remains if you'll search elsewhere. The last I remember he had it in one of his claws," Draigo told Crystal as he walked over to what remained of Shen Long.

"Right. Okay." Crystal said in a small voice. Turning around so that she couldn't see what remained of Shen Long anymore, she began to slowly search the nearby flattened trees. "If it was in one of his claws, then could it have gone in the lake?" Crystal asked hesitantly.

"It could have since I was so merciless that parts of him flew everywhere. I'll look there after I'm done searching his body," Draigo replied as he searched Shen Long's remains for the pendant.

Crystal looked behind and near all the flattened trees yielded no results. Sighing, she placed her hands on her hips and tried to think of where else the pendant could have gone to. Seeing that the only place left was the lake, Crystal began to walk to the water, in spite of her growing fear.

"No luck over here. How about you?" Draigo asked as he turned to see Crystal walking towards the lake's edge.

"No luck here!" Crystal said over her shoulder as she inched towards the lake. Holding her breath as she ducked her head underwater, she tried to look around but could only see inky blackness. Gasping for air as she brought her head back up, Crystal immediately began to swim out towards the middle of the lake. Taking a deep breath, she held it in and dived, trying to look for the pendant.

"I can't find it!" Crystal shouted when she went back up to the surface, angrily slapping the water in front of her.

"Well, we've searched everywhere else so it's definitely in the lake somewhere," Draigo said as he walked away from Shen's corpse and toward the lake, "Let me get rid of the water, for now." Draigo extended his wings to their maximum span and began to manipulate the lake's water. Soon enough there was a massive orb of water floating by Draigo's head as the lake stood empty. He'd made sure that Crystal would land softly on the lake's bed so that she wouldn't get injured again.

Crystal took one look around the lakebed and found the massive pendant Shen Long had shown them. Glancing back to Draigo, Crystal slowed her breathing and held her hands out, covering the pendant in a thick layer of black crystal. Walking backwards slowly, she imitated grabbing it in the air. Lifting her hands up, the amulet lifted up as well. They both moved at the same time and when she eventually got back to the shore, she lowered her arms, causing the pendant to drop with a loud thud.

"There ... we go." Crystal panted, kneeling down in near exhaustion.

"Thank you, Crystal," Draigo said as he returned the water to the lake and grabbed the pendant before raising it to eye level, "Something so small has been such a pain in my side." He crushed the pendant in his claw and felt the stolen reserves return to him.

"No problem," Crystal replied with a tired smile, getting up and walking over to him. "We should probably head back now."

"You're right. Care for a bit more energy before we take off?" Draigo asked as he extended a wing for Crystal to climb on.

"No thanks. I'll be fine." Crystal answered, climbing up onto Draigo and nestling herself in the gap between a couple of his spines.

"Alright, let's go see how Vinyl is doing and get ready to 'entertain' the gala-goers," Draigo said as he took to the skies with strong, smooth wing beats.


	13. Meeting a Dragon Part 2

Draigo and Crystal were soon flying over the city limits of Canterlot and heading toward the hotel that housed Vinyl. As they passed over the walls, the citizenry was split between running for cover and smiling as they recognized Draigo. The hotel wasn't far from the city walls if you flew and they were soon landing in the street in front of the hotel.

"Alright, let's get to the room so that you can change and then we'll head out to the castle," Draigo said as he shrunk down and walked through the hotel's front door.

"Coolio," Crystal said as she slid off his back before he changed. Walking through the front doors after him, she found a few ponies looking at her and she wasn't sure if they wanted to run, or if they should wave. "Canterlot ponies seem a lot more skittish," Crystal whispered to him.

"There's a lot less weird things that happen here than in Ponyville. I'm pretty sure the nobility here would be useless if something strange did happen," Draigo explained as he continued towards Vinyl's room, "There is a disadvantage to living in a place that has the only three Alicorns, the royal guard, and the only Primordial Dragon living in and guarding it, even if it is just being unprepared for dangerous events."

"Never really seen Canterlot back home. I was dumped in a snowy region which I later found out was the Crystal Empire and then I rode in the train all the way to Ponyville. So I wouldn't really know how the nobles there would act." Crystal said with a shrug.

"Wait, that place came back? It's been missing ever since Celestia and Luna defeated Sombra, way back when," Draigo told Crystal as they reached Vinyl's room. He knocked on the door and was promptly let through by the DJ.

"It went missing? I didn't even know it WAS missing. When I landed, this smoke monster thing came after me so I ran and eventually found a city full of crystal." Crystal answered with a slightly surprised expression, bouncing slightly on the bed she left her clothes on.

"What are you two talking about?" Vinyl asked as she closed the door and walked over to them.

"Oh, the Crystal Empire. Nothing to be concerned with," Draigo answered as he brushed the subject off as if it was unimportant.

"If you say so. You guys ready for this? It's gonna be great!" Vinyl exclaimed as she pumped a hoof in the air.

"Crystal needs to change and then we'll be all set."

"Yeah, that," Crystal said, pointing to Draigo and then to her clothes. Leaving the shirt on the bed, Crystal grabbed the dress and walked into the attached bathroom, closing the door behind her. In what seemed like no time at all, she opened the door again and came out wearing the red dress with her original clothes folded. Placing them next to the shirt, Crystal adjusted the straps and smiled. "Now I'm ready."

"Alright, let's get this show on the road," Vinyl said as she grabbed Crystal's clothing in her magical aura and trotted out the door, "I'll put your clothes with my gear for when you're done."

"Sure, okay." Crystal said and looked to Draigo. "What do you mean the Crystal Empire went missing?" She asked him once she figured Vinyl was out of earshot.

"Sombra took the city with him when he was defeated and it's still gone right now," Draigo told her as he made his way out of the room.

"Ohhh. Gotcha. My Equestria must be ahead of you then. That makes sense." Crystal said, nodding her head and following him out the door, locking it behind them.

"Apparently it is. It's not a big deal, though. The empire will come back eventually and then I'll deal with Sombra myself if the ponies can't handle him," Draigo commented as he saw Vinyl waiting with their masks, "Ah, right. Won't do for someone to recognize us if we want to go back to the gala later on."

"That would not do at all." Crystal agreed, grabbing her mask and putting it on her face. "I can barely see out of this. But it should work just fine." She said, her voice muffled slightly by the mask.

"Yep, I'm only wearing one so that Celestia and Luna won't harass me about the stunt later on," Draigo admitted as he put the mask under one of his wings.

"Fine by me." Crystal said with a shrug and pointed at the wall to her left. "That where the gala is?"

"Yeah, it's in the ballroom of the castle. We'll have a little walk across the drawbridge and then we'll burst through the doors as Vinyl blares the music through her speaker system," Draigo ran through the plan one last time, "Ready?"

"Yup. Just wondering how we'll burst through the doors." Crystal said.

"Oh, I'll take care of that with a little application of power," Draigo said as he transformed into the very exposed version of his human form and put on his mask.

"This should be very fun then," Crystal said in glee, keeping the mask in place by fusing crystals to the underside of it and her face. "I can't wait to see the look on their faces." She continued.

"Neither can I. Now that I think of it. We'll get two reactions tonight. One for our initial appearance and then again when we show up later. Huh, two for the price of one," Draigo said with a finger to his chin as they walked across the drawbridge.

They were soon at the two massive doors leading directly to where Celestia was greeting her guests.

"Showtime," Draigo said as he forced the doors open with some wind.

Music came from the speakers that Vinyl had set up as the two walked into the room and began to do their poses. Draigo stuck to muscle poses mainly with a few that seemed fairly normal. While Crystal struck poses that would make any man in the room lust after her with a few blown kisses for added effect.

The reaction of the gala goers was to stare at the two as if they had two heads each. The only ones to have a different reaction were the three Alicorns in attendance, who were smiling and giggling, and a group of six mares that were each trying to figure out who would do something like this.

Getting sick of doing the same poses, Crystal decided to turn it up a notch by having minuscule flames dance along her body, making it look like she was glowing while striking a few more sexy poses.

As she did this Draigo made his own body glow by imbuing it with light magic. He continued to strike muscle poses and decided that a few blown kisses to the mares in attendance wouldn't hurt, especially towards the Alicorns.

Soon the song was over and a new one took its place. Draigo walked over to Crystal and whispered, "How would you like to do this?"

"We could try sparring with our fire but not really hit each other?" Crystal whispered back.

"Sounds good to me, just try not to hit too many things that look expensive otherwise the guards will interrupt us," Draigo told her as he struck a fighting pose.

"Perfect," Crystal commented and striking a similar fighting pose, faced down Draigo.

Draigo opened up by throwing a punch that sent a fireball careening toward Crystal.

Dodging the fireball by moving to the side, Crystal stuck her hand out at the same time and caught it. She let the flames dance in her hand before flinging it back to Draigo.

Seeing his own fireball coming at him, Draigo placed his right arm below his left and put them out as if he were going to block the incoming fireball. Once he felt the fireball touch his skin, he brought his left arm up and his right arm down at the same time. The fireball broke apart and dissipated in a shower of embers.

Bringing her hands into fists, Crystal put them in front of her and gave a few quick jabs to the air, sending multiple fireballs in quick succession. She quickly followed that by kicking her leg into the air, sending a stream of flames after the fireballs.

Draigo bobbed and weaved, dodging the fireballs. He then brought his hands together with his fingers extended and palms facing each other. As the stream of fire neared him he stuck his hands out and parted the stream, letting it pass by him. In retaliation, he created a couple of flame daggers that extended from the bottom of his fists and charged at his partner.

Seeing Draigo create a couple of flame daggers, Crystal created a couple of flame daggers from the bottom of her fists too. In addition to this, a fine layer of crystal covered her hands so that she wouldn't get unnecessarily hurt. Seeing Draigo get closer, Crystal crisscrossed her arms and brought them up to her face, ready for his attack.

Noticing all this, Draigo threw a punch straight at Crystal's crossed arms. He held back enough strength that she wouldn't get more than a bruise from blocking it. He knew it was all for show, but wanted it to look fairly close to a real fight so that the audience was more entertained. Besides, she really couldn't do all that much harm to him even in this form.

Feeling him punch her arms just hard enough for a bruise to form, Crystal let out a hiss and uncrossed them. Raising both her daggers, Crystal brought them down, aiming straight for both arms. Intending to graze them, Crystal lowered the heat of the flames but kept the brightness up so that the audience wouldn't realize anything was amiss.

Draigo let her attack through and felt his skin get a little burnt as her daggers passed by. Letting out a grunt, he threw a punch at her head that he knew would miss due to the momentum that her attack carried. He then jumped back and prepared for her next assault.

Smirking behind the mask as he missed hitting her head, Crystal jumped back to her original position and eyed him down. Dissolving the daggers, she breathed and laid her hand flat, slicing the air with it to send a stream of flames his way.

As Crystal jumped back, Draigo took an aggressive stance. When she sent her blade of flames towards him he copied the motion and sent his own on a collision path with her's. When the two flames met they created an explosion that filled the area with a thick cloud of smoke. Taking advantage of this, Draigo charged into the cloud of smoke and reappeared right before Crystal with smoke trailing off his body.

Crystal gave a small gasp, stumbling backwards when he suddenly appeared in front of her. Giving her hands a small shake, she shot her arm forward and covering her fist in the same amount of flames as her daggers, punched him in the arm as she stepped back towards him.

Grunting from the blow to his arm, Draigo threw a right hook as he covered his fist in crystal and fire. He was aiming for Crystal's right arm, hoping to give a blow for a blow.

"You're not the only one who can use crystal to their advantage," Draigo told her quietly.

Grunting as Draigo hit her arm, she brought her foot up to his stomach and tried to push him away from her.

"That was very surprising," Crystal whispered to him.

As Crystal kicked his stomach, Draigo grabbed her ankle with his left hand and lifted her from the ground. "What's so surprising? You saw me create a precious gem earlier today," he said as he threw her high into the air.

Feeling herself be flung, Crystal gasped in surprise and flailed her arms to try and catch on to something. Seeing nothing to grab onto, she fell back down on her back, cracking the floor.

Draigo flinched as Crystal hit the floor, he thought he'd given her enough time to correct herself and land on her feet. Charging in as if to finish the fight, Draigo brought his foot up and gave an exaggerated stomp towards Crystal's abdomen. He'd have to make sure she didn't have need of medical attention once they were done.

Eyes widening at the stomp, Crystal rolled out of the way just in time to see him stomp the floor where she mere seconds ago. Getting into a kneeling position, she threw a fireball at him, not willing to do anything more advanced than that.

Draigo winked at Crystal as he watched the fireball come towards him. He let the fireball connect with his head and promptly collapsed to the floor as if he'd been knocked out by the hit. Draigo rose after a short amount of time on the floor and walked over to Crystal. "I'm getting kinda hungry, you?" he whispered to her as he looked out at the crowd of ponies.

"Yeah, I kinda am." Crystal whispered back and gave a wave to the crowd.

"Okay, let's get out of here," he told her as he raised an arm and then quickly brought it down as he created a wall of smoke between them and the ponies, completely obscuring them. Grateful for the veil, Crystal gave a sigh and ran out the doors before the smoke could dissipate. Draigo followed close behind as they made their way to where Vinyl had her synthesizer hooked up to her speakers.

"Any injuries that need to be looked at?" Draigo asked as he transformed into his draconic form.

Breaking the crystals apart as she took her mask off, Crystal coughed a bit of smoke while stretching her back.

"None that I can feel." Crystal groaned as she stretched.

"That's good. That fall looked like it could've really hurt," Draigo commented as he grabbed Crystal's clothes and handed them to her.

"It did, but nothing I couldn't handle. I figured if I can handle fighting an actual dragon, then I can definitely handle a small fall." Crystal said, taking her clothes and putting the orange shirt on over her dress.

"I figured you were fairly tough, but I sometimes forget how frail other beings are since my own defenses are really hard to get through," Draigo said as he watched Vinyl start to pack up her equipment.

"Hmm. Did you see what we did, Vinyl?" Crystal asked her, stretching her arms into the air.

"Oh, yeah. It was awesome! The reaction was hilarious and the fight afterwards caught even the Princesses off guard." Vinyl exclaimed as she put her speakers in their travel case.

"That's fantastic!" Crystal said in glee, clapping her hands together. She heard her stomach growl and clutched her abdomen. "All that fighting made me hungry, though."

"Hahaha, would you prefer food or flames?" Draigo asked, curious to find out which she preferred for actual hunger.

"Food. Proper food. My stomach needs to grind something every once in awhile." Crystal answered, chuckling a bit.

"Alright, let's go back to the gala and enjoy the buffet that Celestia and Luna have put together for us. Oh, don't worry about not getting an actual invitation. You and Vinyl are my plus ones," Draigo explained to them.

"Thanks, Draigo. I'll be spending most of my time near Octavia, though," Vinyl said with a grin on her face.

"That's completely fine, Vinyl," Draigo said as he turned to Crystal, "Are you going to change or go back inside in the outfit you fought in?"

"I'll keep the shirt on, I'll just change into my pants as well," Crystal said, looking around for a place to change.

"Allow me," Draigo told her as he brought a circle of earth up around Crystal so she'd have some privacy while she changed.

"Thanks." Crystal thanked him and quickly changed, leaving the dress and vest folded up. "I think this looks good," She said, jumping up onto the lip of the earthen circle lightly.

"Okay, I'll seal off the circle so no one runs off with your clothes. This may be Canterlot, but crime still happens, no matter who says otherwise," Draigo said as he closed the circle and lowered it a bit to be less conspicuous, "Now, let's go. I'm starving and I'm pretty sure there'll be at least some meat for visiting dignitaries."

"That's good to hear," Crystal said, rubbing her stomach as she watched the earth mound lower. "What kind of dignitaries? They other country representatives or something?"

"Yeah, there will probably be some griffons, minotaurs, zebras, and possibly a dragon sent by whoever is in charge right now. I kinda doubt the dragons would show up, though," Draigo said as he walked towards the very doors they'd burst through earlier.

"Sounds like a cool meeting," Crystal replied and recognised the doors they crashed through earlier. "There's no back entrance or something? I think the ponies would put two and two together if we went, in the same way, we went out."

"I think that's giving them a little too much. The Alicorns, on the other hand, they'd definitely figure it out. Let's enter through the garden instead. There's an entrance that leads straight into the ballroom as well as a zoo of some kind," Draigo cringed when he thought of Celestia and Luna figuring out that it was him who pulled that stunt off.

"Ooh! A secret passageway! That just screams murder to me." Crystal said, following Draigo as he changed directions.

"Murder? Who's going to kill someone with this many powerful beings right inside?" Draigo asked curiously as he navigated around the castle and into the royal gardens.

"I don't know. I usually associate secret passages with murder mysteries. Seems like the perfect place for the killer to slip away." She said, shrugging. Looking at the gardens, she saw that there were many statues there. Noticing one that caught her eye, Crystal walked up to it and found that it was made of all sorts of different creatures. "Is this Discord?" She asked, pointing to the statue.

"Yes, it would apply to him and me if we had actually fought all out. Since we didn't and I finished him quickly, no mortal will lose a thing. When Discord ruled, there was no way to tell the time. Day and night changed at random times. There were areas where gravity didn't work, the rain was chocolate milk, the ground was checkered in a multitude of colors, and a whole lot of other things. He liked changing things up daily to keep the chaos fresh," Draigo told Crystal, "Okay, I gotta ask. What did you mean when you said you had your gender swapped? You were a guy and then a girl? You didn't have ulterior motives for keeping that body, right? Also, how long have you been a girl?" Draigo raised an eye ridge and waited for her response.

"I've been a girl for about three months actually. I'm just going to say that someone showed me it was much better being a girl than a guy and let's leave it at that. The way you described how Discord ruled sounded like it was pretty chaotic." Crystal said, scratching her cheek and inspecting the statue closer.

"Three months and you're already pregnant? You work fast, my friend," Draigo commented, "I'm pretty sure the words 'Spirit of Chaos' tell you what he's all about. Is there something interesting about his statue? Oh, who convinced you to stay like that? Twilight? Pinkie? Perhaps it was another Displaced, even if it is extremely improbable?"

"Yeah, well, it was mutual." Crystal replied with a slight blush. "I'm a bit dense so it may have to be repeated a couple of time for it to get 's nothing particularly interesting about it, I just wanted to see what he was like up close. None of them. It was someone completely different. You're not that far off with the third option though." Crystal answered, looking at Draigo carefully.

"Good, good. I was kinda afraid that Discord was escaping from his prison somehow," Draigo said with a relieved sigh, "Oh? Related to a Displaced or very close to a Displaced?"

"Related. You going to quit with the questions or do I have to suffer through more of them?" Crystal answered with a furious tone in her voice.

"Oh, I'll stop. Twilight, on the other hand, will never stop until she's satisfied so be careful," Draigo said as he chuckled at the frustrated mage.

"Oh man. Forgot about her for a minute there." Crystal mumbled, running a hand down her face.

"Yeah, it's kinda easy to forget with what has happened today," Draigo admitted as he thought of something, "Have you asked for advice from Cadence about you and your lover? Have you met her yet?"

"No, I haven't asked yet but I have met her. She was the first princess I met, actually. But she's rather busy at the moment." Crystal trailed off, looking around at the other statues.

"How is she busy? She doesn't even seem to have any 'royal duties' as far as I've seen." Draigo asked as he started to walk toward the ballroom entrance, "Come on, it may be a buffet, but they'll stop bringing food out after awhile."

"Not so much royal duties. She's more taking care of a baby Sombra rather than taking on royal duties." Crystal answered, quickly following after him.

"Wait, Sombra's still alive?!" Draigo said as he froze mid-step, "Do you realize what he's done and is capable of? Do you realize the impact that will leave on the crystal ponies when they learn that their tormentor is alive and being looked after by their new princess? Cadence is ruling the Crystal Empire, right?"

"Yes, he's still alive! I'm a bit fuzzy on the details, but I know something turned back Sombra's biological clock. His mind may not really be there because it apparently has never happened before. And yes, Cadence is ruling the Empire." Crystal said in a hushed whisper as they walked into the ballroom proper.

"Ugh, for your and the Crystal Empire's sake I hope his mind isn't there. If he shows signs of his mind still being there then call for help or use the elements on him again or something. I'm unsure what the original plan to defeat him was, but that would probably be the best bet since I'm guessing the preparations for it were fairly complete before whatever happened, happened," Draigo whispered to her as the ponies stared at the pair of them, "See something interesting, puny mortals?" Draigo asked the crowd of ponies in a harsh voice.

"That may have been a bit harsh," Crystal muttered, patting Draigo on his leg. Looking around at the crowd, she bared her sharp teeth and saw with satisfaction the entire crowd move back a bit. "I'll be sure to keep all that you said about Sombra in mind," Crystal added.

Draigo sighed, "Sorry, thinking about Sombra and knowing that, had I been in the area, I could've helped. It gets me riled up, which has been a lot easier since I became a dragon. Anyway, let's see what has been prepared for us to eat."

"Let's." Crystal agreed and walked through the crowd of ponies, making a beeline for the buffet.

Draigo followed her as he flared his frightful aura. The crowd of ponies parted before him as if they were wheat being blown by the wind. "Heh, it's the simple things that you have to remember to appreciate." He grabbed a plate with his magic and proceeded to fill it with an array of food items.

"The simple things are better appreciated if they are seen from a different perspective," Crystal said, grabbing a plate and filling it with various food stuffs.

"Hmm, you have a point. Where would you prefer to sit? We could join the Princesses, try to find Twilight and her friends or just go back outside to eat in private," Draigo said as he looked around to see if he could spot the lavender unicorn, just in case.

"I actually want to see Twilight and her friends, believe it or not. It would be a nice change to answer a few questions compared to everything that happened today." Crystal answered.

"Well, you've got a point," Draigo said as he continued to search for Twilight and her friends, "There they are. They're fairly close to Celestia. I guess being her student has its advantages." Draigo proceeded to walk toward the group of mares and heard them talking about the stunt they'd pulled earlier.

"I think they were aliens," Pinkie said as Draigo and Crystal walked up to the group's table.

"Huh, she's closer than she thinks," Draigo whispered to Crystal as they got close enough to draw the entire group's attention.

"Very close." Crystal whispered. "Hello. I'm Crystal, a friend of Draigo's." Crystal said, introducing herself. "Quick question though. Do you know where the bathroom is?" She asked, feeling a bit queasy from unintentionally smelling all the different foods.

"The bathroom is down that hall, first door on your left," Draigo informed his guest, "Before you ask Twilight. Yes, she's a Displaced like myself. She's, well, a human."

Crystal quickly put her plate on the table and giving a quick wave, bolted for the bathroom.

"WHAT!? She's human? I thought they were a myth that only crazy ponies believed in," Twilight exclaimed as the rest of the group chuckled at her reaction.

"Yep, she's human. You know what else? So am I," Draigo said as he set his plate down on the table and transformed into his armored human form as his concern for Crystal's health grew. He removed his helmet to prove he truly was the same as Crystal.

The reaction that he got from Twilight and the others was jaws hitting the table with eyes as wide as their plates.

Wiping her mouth dry as she walked back, Crystal closed her eyes and breathed slowly. Getting back to the table, she opened her eyes and looked around. "What did I miss?" She asked.

"Oh, I just told them that I'm a human and showed them what I look like to prove it. That reaction of theirs never gets old. They did a similar one when I told them I was a primordial dragon," Draigo told Crystal as he chuckled before he began to eat the food on his plate.

"So, you're telling me that I could've been getting information about a new species this entire time!? Argh, do you even realize how frustrating that is?" Twilight asked Draigo. She looked at Crystal and began to scrutinize them both for any information she could glean from their appearances.

"Is that what he said? I thought it was just me avoiding you for the entire day." Crystal said, scratching her cheek as she pushed her plate away, not feeling particularly hungry at the moment.

"Oh, there's that, but what Twilight means is that she could've been pumping me for answers had she known I was human earlier. Good thing I kept it a secret until now," Draigo told Crystal and muttered the last bit to himself.

"What exactly are you looking for?" Crystal asked Twilight, who continued to scrutinize them closely.

"Anything. For instance, you've got a bruise on your arm as well as a burn. Also, you seem to have a slight shine to you as if you'd just gotten done with a hard workout. You don't have any fur except for on your head and your forelegs have those weird 'things' on the end of them instead of hooves. Finally, you just dried your mouth after coming back from the bathroom, indicating that you most likely threw up. Need I go on?" Twilight said as she demonstrated her observational skills.

"No, because I'm going to tell why I have all those things that you said. The bruise is because I bumped into a door frame, the burn is a tattoo. You are observant because I actually was working out a bit before I got here. The fur on my head is called hair and the 'things' on the end of my forearms are my fingers. I threw up in the bathroom because I'm-was, sick." Crystal said, folding her arms as she stared at Twilight; nervous about her near slip-up.

"So, those things at the end of your forearms are called fingers? They seem awkward to use," Twilight asked trying to clarify the information she'd just been given.

"Yes, these are called fingers and they are attached to our hands. You get used to them after awhile and they are what enable us to hold things without the use of magic," Draigo answered the curious mare as he wiggled his fingers to show her what part he was talking about.

"Fascinating. Crystal, why do you have sharp teeth all around your mouth while Draigo only has them in four spots?" Twilight asked as she produced a quill and pad of paper.

"Because they make me become nightmare fuel." Crystal said with a shrug and smiled, showing off her teeth. "To be honest, though, it's a dragon thing. The character that I became had sharp teeth because he was trained in magic by a dragon. I must've gotten them when I got transported to my Equestria." Crystal clarified after seeing their faces.

"Does that mean you have dragon magic as well? What's it like? I've tried asking Draigo, but he didn't really know since he's been like this for so long," Twilight asked as she jotted down everything that was being said.

"That's cute. You're like a living typewriter. Anyway, using dragon magic feels like you're getting this big buzz every time you use it, sort of like after having about a hundred cups of coffee. I can't really explain it that well, but that's what it feels like for me. It must be different for each magic user." Crystal answered, scratching the back of her head.

"Ooh, ooh. Do you sing about your hated enemies like Draigo?" Pinkie asked out of the blue.

"That was a one-time thing. You'll never hear me sing again," Draigo said with a bit of panic in his voice.

"Why? Y'all had a wonderful voice, even if it did scare me half to death," Applejack piped in.

"Personal reasons," Draigo answered with a bit of blush showing.

"No, I don't sing. Never really seen the reason to do so in the first place. I didn't know you sing, though! You should sing a song!" Crystal said, slapping Draigo on the shoulder.

Draigo sighed, "Any requests? I can tell that none of you girls will give up unless I sing so I might as well sing something you'll like." He shifted back into his draconic form and grew to a little taller than Celestia. If he was going to sing, he was going to do so in comfort. He stood up and waited to see if any of them had a request.

"You heard of 'Summer Lovin'?" Crystal asked, looking up at Draigo.

"Yep and if memory serves I'll need a partner to properly sing it," Draigo said as he began to walk toward Celestia and Luna's raised table.

"Celestia, would you sing a song with me? It was requested and I need a partner to pull it off," Draigo explained to the surprised princess of the sun.

"What song is it and who requested it?" Celestia asked curiously.

"The song is called 'Summer Lovin' and everyone at Twilight's table wanted to hear me sing. So, would you join me in singing it?" Draigo asked, hoping she would agree.

"Hmm, I do remember a song by that name. If Twilight and her friends would like to hear it then I'm glad to help you out," Celestia said as she stood and joined Draigo at the edge of her raised platform.

Draigo started the song and Celestia joined in flawlessly. They were soon engrossed in their singing. They didn't even notice Luna give them both a knowing smile or Twilight and her friends start to dance to their song. Soon enough the entire ballroom grew silent as they listened to the song of the powerful duo. After a little bit, all of the mares echoed Celestia while the stallions did the same for Draigo. It was now a full blown musical number.

The song continued for a little bit then as it ended the pair looked out over the crowd of ponies and flinched when applause erupted from everyone attending the gala.

"Thank you, Celestia. It was fun," Draigo said softly with a bit of a blush somehow showing through his scales.

"Yes, we should do it again sometime," Celestia told him as she returned to her table.

Draigo slowly walked back to Twilight's table and before anyone could say a thing he began eating once more.

"That was something. You two sing really well together." Crystal complimented him, eating from her plate after finishing her dancing.

"Yes, you and Celestia were really good, darling," Rarity piped in.

"The song was okay, I guess," Rainbow said as she looked away from everyone.

"Alright, alright. Isn't there something else you could talk about?" Draigo said without looking up from his plate.

"We could talk about me doing basic elemental spells, but that can be left for another time. I'd rather talk about why you didn't say that you had such a good singing voice." Crystal said, resting her head on both her fists.

"Well, it's never come up before," Draigo said as he played with his food with one of his claws, "To be perfectly honest, I've never thought of my voice as 'good', more like intimidating. That's why I've only really sang when no one else could hear me or so I thought." Draigo looked at Applejack with a mild glare.

"Hey now, ah thought you were upset and needed to get somethin' off yer chest," Applejack said defensively.

"So why do I get the feeling you two don't really like his singing?" Crystal asked, pointing to Draigo and Applejack.

"It's not tha ah don't like his singin'. It's just that last time I heard him sing he had fire dancing across his body in the middle of the night and then burned up almost an entire hectare of ma land with that pillar he created," Applejack answered, "It scared me worse than anythin' ever has before."

"Of course I don't like my singing. Didn't you hear me? I've always thought my voice was more intimidating than anything. Why would I want to be intimidating while singing something that isn't meant to be an intimidating song?" Draigo told her energetically.

"No, I just usually filter that stuff out," Crystal said absently, chewing on some of her food. "That hectare burning sounds like it wasn't a good thing, though," She added.

"I went back and fixed it after I'd calmed down properly. Heck, Celestia is my witness," Draigo muttered as he looked down at the floor.

"Yep, it's true. That hectare was empty so nothing got destroyed except for some grass," Applejack clarified.

"At least trees didn't get burned otherwise you would actually have something to argue about." Crystal said, looking first to Applejack, then the princesses. "They look different here than from where I'm from," She muttered. "What am I saying? Everyone here looks different."

"Really? What are they like in your world?" Draigo asked as Twilight once more brought out her quill and notepad.

"For one thing, even though they still are the Princesses, they also govern the magic guilds in my world. They also look more human than pony and still have pony traits." Crystal said, trying to remember what Celestia and Luna looked like back home, considering she's only met them a few times.

"So, you blend in a lot better than I do when I'm in my human form. That actually sounds kinda nice. I mean, even when I'm a dragon I stand out. The only way I don't stand out is when I'm trying to hide my identity from everyone," Draigo told her as he finished off his plate of food.

"That so? Now that I'm thinking about it, every pony at this table is different. Twilight's job is the same there as it is here. Taking care of the library. Rainbow does not have wings, but she can use wind magic to lift herself up so there's that. Pinkie is a baker, Rarity is a dressmaker and holds her Boutique close to the Fairy Tail guild and Applejack is a farmer and sells whatever she produces in the marketplace. Also, all of you are more human than pony in my world." Crystal rattled off as she screwed her eyes shut in an effort to compare the two.

"Huh, doesn't actually sound all that different, besides them being more human. Pinkie helps out in a bakery, Rarity is a dressmaker and owns her Boutique, and Applejack is a farmer and sells a good majority of what is produced. Rainbow seems to be the most different of the bunch," Draigo explained as he pointed to each pony as he mentioned them.

"Fluttershy also takes care of animals," Crystal added, finally opening her eyes as she remembered Fluttershy.

"I-I take care of animals as well," Fluttershy quietly said from across the table, "There's quite a few that live in my cottage with me too."

"Yep, not all that different," Draigo commented as he propped his head up with one of his claws.

"You do? That's good to know." Crystal said with a nod and looked over to Rainbow. "You okay there?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just really hard to imagine not having wings to fly with," Rainbow responded as she was snapped out of her stupor by Crystal's question.

"Darling, I know it may be a bit personal, but do you have a special somepony or somepony you're interested in over in your world?" Rarity asked with a sparkle in her eyes.

"Uum …" Crystal said dumbly, blinking owlishly at Rarity. "Yes … why do you want to know?" She asked nervously.

"Oh, I'm just curious about the relationships in your world and I'm wondering if they are similar to ours like our professions are," Rarity told her.

"All that I know for sure is that Twilight and Pinkie are together. Other than that, everything seems to be up in the air." Crystal said with certainty.

"Twilight and Pinkie? I'm sorry, darling. I just can't see that," Rarity said skeptically.

"Believe it or not, they are together. I don't even know how they got together since they appeared before I even landed in my Equestria and frankly, I don't want to know." Crystal said, laying her hands flat on the table.

"I'm not into this mushy stuff, but I am curious if the me in your world has somepony she's interested in," Rainbow said as the other mares around the table nodded their heads in agreement.

"I would like to think she does, but I have no clue. I think all of you are still single, excepting Twilight and Pinkie." Crystal answered.

"Well, there you have it, ladies. Now, can we change the subject? It seems that all you girls want to talk about is love and relationships. And yes, I know that sounds like I think you're stereotypical girls, but I don't," Draigo told the group of girls before him.

"Sounds to me like ya jus' don't want us askin' about your interests there, Draigo," Applejack quipped.

"That would be preferred, yes," Draigo answered nervously.

"What don't you want to tell us?" Crystal asked innocently, clasping her hands and bringing them up to the side of her face.

"Nothing, nothing at all," Draigo responded as he looked out the window towards the garden.

"It doesn't sound like nothing~" Crystal sang.

"Think back a bit to that thing that you didn't want me asking about. Cause I can easily set them on you," Draigo counter attacked and hoped she would actually remember.

"What thing?" Crystal asked, trying to figure out what he meant. Thinking back, she remembered it as her face fell. "Oh right. That."

"Yep, though now that the girls here know that there's something I want to hide they'll probably push me to tell anyway," Draigo admitted and looked sidelong at the rest of the table. The girls, especially Rarity, could smell interesting news about who he liked, "Crap, I was right and I really don't feel like running away."

Crystal didn't say anything. She just let her head rest on the table as the blush slowly intensified as her eyes looked at the group.

"I'll take my secret with me to the grave," Draigo proclaimed, "I'll take yours with me as well," Draigo whispered to Crystal.

"Now, darling, there's no need for that. Just tell us what we want to know and we can continue on with our night," Rarity said with a gleam in her eye.

"Ha, it'll take more than that to make me spill the beans," Draigo challenged as the mares went into a huddle, "Celestia save me." He intoned under his breath.

"Save you? What about me? Wait. Am I even safe?" Crystal whispered in a panic, looking at the huddled mares.

"They've smelled a possible new relationship with one of their friends. They should concentrate on me until I've told them. That should be long enough that you will be forgotten," Draigo hurriedly whispered to Crystal without taking his eyes off the huddled mares before him.

"Oh no." Crystal squeaked, watching as the mares broke off from their huddle. "We're doomed."

"I'm afraid so. It was an honor fighting alongside you, my friend," Draigo said melodramatically.

"Yup. Nice knowing ya," Crystal said with a gulp and a scared look on her face.

When the mares broke their huddle they began to assault each of their victims in turn, giving them just enough time to partially recover their nerves. It was only a matter of time before one of them broke down.

Turns out that Draigo was the weaker of the two when it came to resisting 'peer' pressure.

"Alright, fine. I'll answer your question if it will make you stop," Draigo said as he broke down before the onslaught of the mares.

"Alright, then darling, who does Crystal like?" Rarity asked with an evil grin on her face. Crystal merely crossed her arms and smirked at Rarity.

"Why would I say who I like?" Crystal asked.

"Oh, darling, you misunderstood. I was asking Draigo since he seems to know who you like," Rarity clarified for Crystal.

"Ohh. Good luck with that then, considering he doesn't even know …. dammit!" Crystal cursed, trailing off as she realized she left herself open for a verbal onslaught.

"Well then, let's focus on you then, Crystal. What is he or she like?" Rarity asked as the mares' attention focused on the female mage.

"Well, uuh … I vote for a tactical retreat!" Crystal said, sweating bullets while raising her hand up. "Who's with me?"

"Vote seconded," Draigo said as he rushed toward the door to the gardens after he'd put Crystal onto his back.

"Those mares are crazy!" Crystal shouted, ducking her head under the archway of the door as they went past it.

"They're all single and thirsty for a relationship so when they sense a friend likes someone they latch on like leeches," Draigo told her as he checked behind him, "Crap, they're pursuing us and Rainbow's catching up quick. Ideas?"

Looking around the gardens, Crystal saw the entrance to a hedge maze. "Will the hedge maze work?" She asked, looking behind to check on their pursuers.

"It won't stop Rainbow or Fluttershy, but it'll definitely allow us to lose the others," Draigo told her as he steered toward the maze's entrance.

"I have an idea on how Rainbow and Fluttershy won't be able to get us. You go one way, I'll go a different way. Just trust me." Crystal said, sliding off his back and once she hit the ground, began running towards on the side paths peeling off from the entrance. Heading into one, she ran her hand on the top of the hedge, concentrated and managed to make crystal cover her path of the maze, acting as a roof. Having done so, Crystal continued running, anxious to lose the mares.

"I hope she knows what she's doing," Draigo said to himself as he ran in the opposite direction of Crystal.

"Now I see the flaw in my plan," Crystal muttered, skidding to a stop just the edge of the path she had taken. Looking above to see if either Fluttershy or Rainbow were there, Crystal ran into a different path, not bothering to place any crystal as it would just consume her energy.

"There's no use in running, Crystal," Rainbow called from above her chosen target, "We can get Draigo anytime since he lives here. You, on the other hand, don't."

"Crap." Crystal panicked, looking above to see Rainbow flying there. Looking in front of her, she found she had reached a dead end. "Why did it have to be a dead end?" She groaned and throwing all logic out the window, made herself catch fire and ran straight through the hedge wall and into the path beyond.

"You're really lucky that the hedge maze is still green, Crystal. Otherwise, you would have set the entire place on fire. I still don't suggest doing that again," Rainbow commented as she flew lazily above Crystal.

"Okay, I get it! Fire bad for hedge." Crystal mumbled and ran in a completely new direction. "I hope Draigo is faring better than I am," She muttered, skidding around a corner.

At that moment, Draigo was feeling a lot more confident about escaping since Fluttershy was the one pursuing him. That confidence would vanish in the next few moments.

Fluttershy, knowing she was a slow flyer, recruited the aid of the animals in the gardens. A flock of birds dive bombed Draigo and began to peck him all over. While the pecking did nothing the amount of birds made him slow down enough for Fluttershy to catch up.

"Agh, go away you stupid birds," Draigo cried out as his vision was effectively blocked by the feathery assailants.

"I'm sorry Draigo. I really didn't want to do this, but we really need to find out who you and Crystal like," Fluttershy told him in a very nice way for what she was doing to him.

"You'll never take me alive, copper," Draigo called out, "Please be able to get away somehow Crystal," He muttered to himself.

Reaching yet another dead end. Crystal skidded to a stop, panting as she tried to think of something to get away.

"Are you okay? You seem to be in a lot better shape than what your performance indicates," Rainbow wondered as she hovered in front of the panting woman.

"Oh, I'm perfectly fine," Crystal said flippantly before resting her elbows on her knees as she leaned down.

"Uh huh, sure you are," Rainbow said as she landed in front of Crystal and tripped her, "Just sit there and answer some questions."

Crystal shot Rainbow a glare when she fell but leaned back into the hedge slightly anyway. "Fine. What questions? I thought the interview was over when we ran out the hall." Crystal muttered.

"Well, kinda. See, the others still want to know about who you like. So being the loyal and awesome friend that I am, I gotta find out as much as possible while they're getting here," Rainbow explained to the irked human.

"Oh, really?" Crystal huffed, crossing her arms as she laid down on the ground and looked up at the sky.

"Yep. So, make this easy on both of us and spill the beans," Rainbow said as she pointed at Crystal with her hoof.

"The only thing I'm telling you is that it's a she, happy?" Crystal said in frustration.

"Not really cause I'm talking about mushy feelings," Rainbow told Crystal as she stuck her tongue out in disgust, "I'll do it for my friends, though. Any particular reason why you don't want us to find out who you like?"

"Because unlike your friends, I like keeping my romantic life secret from anyone I don't know, even if they look like someone I do know. Now will you quit asking?" Crystal growled, thumping her fist against the ground, leaving a scorch mark where she hit.

Rainbow took a couple steps back from the angry woman and sat on the ground with a sigh.

"Yeah, I get ya. I don't want the others to know about who I like either," Rainbow admitted with her ears drooping to the side.

"At least that makes two of us," Crystal muttered bitterly, even though her gaze had softened. Sitting up and drawing her knees to her chest, she then stared angrily at the ground in front of her.

"I mean, I've worked really hard on my image and if they found out they'd never let me hear the end of it. The rest of the town would then hear and see me as soft. I'm not soft! I'm tough!" Rainbow exclaimed as she struck a pose she thought would make her look tough.

"Ha!" Crystal barked harshly, looking at Rainbow for a split second before turning her gaze back to the ground. "You're the toughest pony I know."

"Thanks, that means a lot coming from someone like Draigo," Rainbow admitted and then quickly went to clarify, "A Displaced, that is."

Draigo was then seen flying above them while a flock of birds pecked away at him. He was only able to fly over the hedge and a little ways away before he crashed to the ground. The birds made it really hard for him to flap his wings properly.

"Get away, you've already grounded me," Draigo said in frustration as Fluttershy and the rest of the girls came over the hedge to land between Draigo and Crystal.

"Do you give up?" Twilight asked.

"I give up, but that doesn't mean I'll tell you anything," Draigo responded, "Besides, I really don't want to hurt any of you and that's basically what I'd have to do to get away."

"I got no problem doing that," Crystal muttered vehemently.

"Did they hurt you?" Draigo asked as he looked at Crystal intently.

"Nope," Crystal answered, gazing darkly at the ground in front of her.

"Then don't hurt them. It's that simple," Draigo said to the brooding, pink haired woman.

"I'll think about it if they don't ask anymore questions about who I like," Crystal answered, glaring daggers at Twilight.

"Okay, fine. I won't ask about who you like and neither will the rest of the girls," Twilight said as the group nodded in agreement even though they were a tad disappointed. They were mostly ashamed that they had made their guest so angry.

"Oh, I feel terrible for not being kinder," Fluttershy admitted, "Is there any way we can make it up to you, Crystal?"

Crystal snapped her attention to Fluttershy, slowly softening her gaze as she looked at her. "Maybe a little consideration for the privacy of other ponies," Crystal said, getting up and dusting herself off.

"I reckon we can remember that," Applejack replied, "If it weren't fer us pushin Fluttershy to stop Draigo from runnin then I'm sure she would've stopped. The fault lies with everypony besides her."

"Since that's the case, then why didn't you send Twilight after Draigo? Or even have her cast some sort of scanning spell to tell you what you wanted to know? It would have saved us a lot of trouble." Crystal said, crossing her arms and glaring at the farm pony.

"Well, for one Draigo is immune to magic and I know I can't keep up with him, especially if he flies away. Second, I could've cast a spell to tell me your locations, but keeping you in one place would've been impossible without being able to see you. Also, I don't know any spells that let me read another's mind and I don't think there is such a spell," Twilight explained as she backed away slightly from the glaring gal.

"I wasn't talking about reading minds. I meant to see if you could cast a spell that can tell you if we were lying or not. A lie detection spell that could be used by listening for heartbeats." Crystal clarified, pinching the bridge of her nose while placing a hand on her hip. "Or maybe even a full-body scan. Who knows?"

"Oh, right. Well, that doesn't do us any good if you don't answer the questions and you obviously didn't want to," Twilight told Crystal as she blushed from embarrassment.

"I don't but," Crystal sighed, looking at Twilight. "I'm going to tell you something. Hopefully, it will tide you over till I come back." She then turned her gaze to Draigo and gave him a smile. "I want you to be ready to send me back immediately after I say it, okay?"

"Ready to fire, Ma'am," Draigo said as he saluted and stood up.

"The real reason why I went to the bathroom so quickly is because … I'm expecting."

"Crystal, our contract is complete," Draigo quickly intoned as the six mares squeed in joy as they tried to run up and hug Crystal.

Before they could, Crystal disappeared into a portal that appeared beneath her feet. When she fell, she hit Gray, making him curse loudly.

"Yeah, stuff you too!" Crystal said just as angrily, not noticing the portal close above her.

"Can you get off of me?" Gray asked, huffing as he tried to get Crystal off of him.

"Oh, sorry." Crystal apologised, getting up and taking a look around. "This is not the guild."

"No, it's not." Gray said, crossing his arms and looking at Crystal quizzically. "Where did you come from?"

"Another Equestria." She said absently, taking in her surroundings. It looked like she had come through the portal into a port. There were ships docking and taking off as well as crowds of people bustling to and fro.

"Uh huh, sure. I would not believe, if it weren't for the fact you are wearing a bright orange top instead of your usual open vest." Gray observed, laughing at the glare she gave him. "Okay, jeez, I'll stop." He said, raising his hands up in defense. "Seriously, though. Are you okay?" He asked in concern, heading out the alley and towards the port.

"I'm fine … just looking at the sudden shift in location. I was in the hedge maze over in Canterlot, and now I'm here … which is where exactly?" Crystal asked, fidgeting with her hands as she followed Gray.

"Oh. This is the port closest to Ponyville. I was planning to tackle a job by myself because I heard rumours of Lyon being at the location this job is at." Gray answered, handing Crystal a piece of paper.

"Hey, Gray!" A voice called out, causing him to turn around so fast he nearly got whiplash. Looking to see that Pinkie was whom the voice belonged to, he cursed and turned on his heel, quickly walking away from the both of them.

Crystal scrunched up the paper Gray gave to her and placed it in her cube which, thankfully, survived the cross-universe trip. "Pinkie, stop." She said, holding a hand out. To her surprise, Pinkie actually skidded to a stop in front of her. "Why are you chasing Gray? And how long have you been doing that, anyway?"

"I'm chasing him because he punched you into another universe. I planned to teach him a lesson in harming women but it looks like you're alright!" Pinkie said, calming down and getting back to her usual peppy self after seeing Crystal was unharmed. "Six hours, I've been chasing him!" She added, watching Gray slip around the corner.

"He punched me and I just happened to fly through a portal after he did. You know I'm a Displaced so it was bound to happen sooner or later." Crystal said, giving a laugh while walking after Gray.

"Yeah, well-hey!" Pinkie said, running after Crystal. "You sure you should have asked him to a fight in your condition?" She asked, after having caught up. Crystal tensed, hoping she wasn't going to say what she thought she would.

"What 'condition'?" Crystal asked nervously.

"You being pregnant of course!" Pinkie said happily, skipping beside her.

"Of course you would catch onto that." Crystal said with a groan, cradling her face in one of her hands. "I did it because I wanted to see how strong I was compared to him. I made sure to protect myself properly though." Crystal said reassuringly.

"If you managed to do that, then great. You're going to have to tell the rest of our friends eventually though." Pinkie advised sagely, nodding her head in agreement to her own words.

"You girls coming to Galuna Island or what?" Gray called out from the mouth of the alley, which opened up directly onto the harbour. "You may as well, considering you've been following me all this time."


	14. Water Voyage

"Galuna Island!?" Crystal said in shock, pulling out the paper Gray gave her from the cube. Uncrumpling it, she looked the page over and found that it was an S-Class job. "S-Class!? You're taking us on an S-Class mission!? That's the highest mission there is!" Crystal said in protest, walking up to him and punching him hard in the arm.

"Crystal …" Pinkie said nervously, standing just behind her.

"If you want me to calm down, I won't! He wants us to go to an island full of demons!" Crystal said in frustration, turning to Pinkie and pointing back to Gray, making him dodge to the side as a few shards of crystal were sent his way.

"I think you should calm down though." Pinkie said forcefully.

"Why should I?" Crystal growled, growing crystal around one of her clenched fists. "Gray is the idiot that wants to go on this job to try and find someone!" She added, turning to the wall beside her and punching it, causing cracks to form as the crystal around her fist broke apart.

Wanting to stop her in her tracks, as well as to try and calm her down, Gray gathered up his ice magic and launched a spell at Crystal, trapping her in an ice net.

"Ice-Make: Fishnet. Comes in handy when someone needs to calm down." Gray said, placing his hands in his pockets as he looked at the stunned mage.

"I'm perfectly calm. I just don't see why you have to go an S-Class job to try and find Lyon." Crystal said, struggling to keep the anger out of her voice.

* * *

"S-Class? What's that?" Twilight asked Makarov, observing the guild as they all watched their master to see what his next move would be.

"You've been helping for the past couple of months, so it's no wonder you wouldn't know. S-Class is the highest rank in the guild. Only four people have access to the job request board and they are the strongest mages here. Reason being that they have the risk of the mage dying if they accept a request. If someone's taken it, then they're very stupid." Makarov explained, hopping off the counter and walking up the stairs to the next floor. "Do you have any idea who's taken it?" He asked Mirajane once he got to the top of the stairs.

"The only thing I could find were a few ice shards on this side of the bannister." Mirajane said, walking over and showing him.

"Must have been Gray. Why would he take a job though? He knows the rules." Makarov said, looking at the slowly melting ice curiously. "Someone needs to bring him back though. Which job did he take?" He asked Mirajane, glancing at the job request board.

"The job to lift the curse off of Galuna Island." Mirajane said, remembering which ones were on the board and which ones weren't.

"That one? Hmmm. Twilight, you want to go and get Gray to come back?" Makarov asked her, climbing on top of the bannister and looking down at the Unicorn.

"Is what he did that bad?" Twilight asked, looking up at the both of them.

"Yes. The other S-Class mages won't be able to get back in time." Mirajane called down.

"And the others can't help why?"

"Because they aren't Unicorns like you. You can do more magic than all of us combined with that horn of yours." Mirajane answered, disappearing as she climbed down the steps.

"I'll go and get Gray then. Can I ask for help in case I can't?" Twilight asked and looked at a couple of the guild members just in case.

"Yes, you can. Who do you want to take?" Makarov grunted, standing behind Twilight and on top of the counter.

"Thank you. I want to take Levy and, is it … Cana?" Twilight asked, looking over at the girl drinking straight from a keg of beer on top of one of the tables.

"That's right." Cana said, stopping her drinking for a bit to answer. Looking at Twilight, she placed the keg down next to her, and quirked an eyebrow. "You want me and Levy to help?"

"Yeah, I do. If I'm not able to bring Gray back, then I want you two to help. That okay with you two?" Twilight asked, nervously tapping her index fingers together.

"Fine with me. If we manage to find Crystal along the way, then that's even better." Levy said, heading out the door.

"Almost forgot about her." Twilight mumbled guiltily, following both her and Cana out the door.

* * *

"Remember what you were like on the train?" Pinkie asked Crystal, watching her as they stepped onto a boat Gray managed to procure.

"Yeah … oh no." Crystal said, feeling queasy just from the mere motion of the rocking boat.

"Do you get motion sickness?" Gray asked her as he carefully sat down, making sure not to capsize them.

"Yeah. I think it's about to get even worse thanks to what's happening with me." Crystal replied, sitting near the edge of the boat in case she really did throw up.

"Which is … what?" He asked, trying to get some more info out of her.

"I'll tell you when we get there." Crystal mumbled, wrapping her arms around her stomach gingerly. After her little blow-up in the alley, both of them managed to calm Crystal down by convincing her to go along with them. When she had managed to convince Gray to let her go, she followed the both of them and helped them find a boat, even if it was with a bit of reluctance. When Gray found one, along with someone willing to take them there, Crystal merely groaned, not believing that she was actually doing this.

A fourth person stepped onto the wooden row boat, rocking it slightly as he expertly moved with the motion of the sea to his place on the boat. Crystal looked up at him and saw he had a light grey coat and was wearing a black undershirt, white overcoat and dark, water-resistant pants. He had no shoes on and wore some sort of beanie that was meant for seaweather.

"Who are you?" Pinkie asked, bouncing a bit in her seat.

"I'm the one that will take you three to the island." He said simply, grabbing an oar and pushing off, directing them to their destination with powerful strokes. "Blackhead said that two of you were mages. I take you to the island so that you can lift the curse, yes?" He asked them.

"Yeah, that's why we're going to the island." Gray answered, leaning back and looking at Crystal worriedly as she leaned over the side, clutching onto the boat so hard her knuckles turned white. "You sure she's okay?" Gray whispered to Pinkie.

"Yeah, she's fine." Pinkie said happily but shot Crystal a worried look all the same.

* * *

"Gray is going to an island so the only logical place to go to would be the port closest to Ponyville." Twilight said, thinking aloud as she quickly finished checking off the marketplace.

"Of course it would be. How else would he get there?" Cana asked, looking through her pack of magical cards.

"We can just take the train to the port." Levy suggested, looking over Twilight's checklist. "You missed one." She pointed out.

"Thanks. The train doesn't go to the port, which I think is a stupid idea. We'll just have to walk there instead." Twilight said, absently ticking off the item Levy had pointed out. "Checklist done. Now we walk to the port. Shouldn't be more than about six hours with scheduled rests." Twilight added, scrolling up the checklist and placing it in her pocket.

"Seriously? You girls are going to walk for six hours straight to the port?" Rainbow called out, landing beside them. "Why are you even going there in the first place?"

"We are going to get Gray and bring him back to the guild." Twilight answered, looking over to Rainbow, shaking her quill to get the last of the ink off. Once she did, she lit her horn up and teleported the quill, ink and scroll back to her library.

"Gray? The one who's always half-naked?" Rainbow asked, seeing them nod their heads in confirmation.

"Have you seen him?" Twilight asked, rubbing her wrists to get a bit of circulation into them after having gone over the checklist multiple times.

"Last I saw, him, Crystal and Pinkie were getting into a boat. Not sure where they were headed though." Rainbow nodded her head, looking confusedly at their reactions. "What?"

"You saw them at the port? How long ago?" Cana asked, folding her arms over her chest after adjusting her bag.

"About three hours? I think?" Rainbow asked, not entirely sure of how long ago she saw them.

"That's fine, we'll just have to run then to cut our time in half." Twilight said, sighing as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"You seriously think you can run for three hours straight? Why don't you just use your magic to teleport there?"

"For one, I need to see where I have to go for the teleportation spell to even work. Second, I can't teleport the three of us without collapsing as soon as I make it to my destination. So we'll have to run there to make up for lost time." Twilight explained calmly, turning away from her friend and started to jog in the direction of the port.

"Sorry, no dice." Rainbow said and grinned, grabbing onto the back of Twilight's shirt, causing it to tighten around her front. "I'm going to take you there in a fraction of the time."

"What?" Twilight managed to get out before she was suddenly picked up and flown at an incredibly fast speed towards the port. Once she was set down, she watched Rainbow hightail it back to Ponyville to most likely retrieve the other two. Fixing up her shirt, Twilight sighed as she felt it become loose again. As she was about to scan the horizon for them, a rainbow trail signalled their position. "There they are." She murmured, crossing her arms over her chest as she tapped her foot.

When Rainbow lighted down, she unwrapped bother her arms from around Levy's and Cana's waists, stepping back a bit to shake the stiffness out of them. "Here you go! Told you I could get the three of you here in a few minutes." Rainbow said proudly.

Levy smoothed her hair and dress as she tried to catch her breath from the sheer speed at which Rainbow had flown. "You weren't kidding about you taking us here in less than ten minutes." She gasped, walking forward a bit.

"I'm just glad we got here. Now all we have to do is catch up to Gray and the others." Cana said, glancing back to Rainbow. "Do you remember which way the were heading?"

"West-North-West. Port's that way, Twilight." Rainbow said, walking up to her, grabbing her shoulders, and turning her until she faced in the right direction.

"Ah, right. Thanks. You want to come along and help?" Twilight asked.

"Nah, I got to get back. I promised the CMC, Applejack and Rarity I'd go camping with them. According to Rarity, it takes a couple of days to pack but really? A couple of days? I think she's just overreacting. Anyway, gotta go." Rainbow explained, running backwards before turning around and leaping into the air, flying back to Ponyville.

"Have we made it yet?" Crystal groaned, staying close to the edge of the boat in case she got sick again.

"We are nearly there." The captain said and turned to look at his three guests. "Do you know what the curse does to people if they stay there long enough?" He asked, crouching down and placing the oar back where he got it from, letting the current and wind power the boat for a bit.

"No. What?" Pinkie asked.

"It does this." The captain answered, taking off one half of his jacket to show off a mottled, blackened arm. It looked like it was meant to be part of a demon. Pinkie's and Gray's eyes widened at the sight while Crystal leaned over the side, staring glumly at the moving ocean below them, watching the stars in the sky fade in and out as the ripples obscured them.

"It turns you into part demon?" Gray asked, eyes boggling at the sight. Pinkie was going to ask the captain something else but she stopped as she noticed he was no longer there.

"He's gone!" Pinkie said, planting her hands on either side of her head.

"Did he fall in?" Gray asked, quickly looking over either side of the boat for any signs of bubbles.

"I didn't hear a splash …" Crystal grumbled, leaning back up and looking blearily at the island. "Is it just me, or is that getting closer?" She asked, pointing to the suddenly looming rocks.

"Yup." Pinkie gulped, immediately clinging onto the boat. "Everyone brace yourselves!" She shouted just in time before the boat smashed against the rocks, flinging the occupants somewhere onto the island.

"No luck here. What about you?" Levy sighed, trudging back to the proposed meeting place if they didn't manage to find anyone willing to take them. Along the way there, she had met up with Cana, who only shook her head.

"Nope. Maybe Twilight had some luck." She suggested, patting Levy on the shoulder. They both walked back to the meeting place, which happened to be a one of the cafes strewn along the dock, hoping to get some of the sailors to buy something to eat or drink. They found Twilight already sitting at one of the outside tables, chatting it up with one of the patrons.

"Who's this?" Levy asked, taking a seat at the table with them while Cana sat opposite her.

"Oh hi you two. I'm just talking with this captain. He says he can get us to Galuna Island, even if no other captain is willing to take us." Twilight explained, smiling at him. The captain in question had on a white sailor's hat, a white jacket with a light blue undershirt, black pants and white sneakers. His coat was a light-green one and he had neon-yellow for his mane and tail.

"How did you manage that one?" Cana asked, pulling out a flask from her bag and taking a swig from it.

"I told him that Princess Celestia asked me to go to this island for a personal reason, along with my two friends. Who could say no to the princess?" Twilight said, sporting an embarrassed blush on her cheeks.

"I did not think you would use your position with the princess like that." Cana said, quirking an eyebrow at Twilight.

"She is very convincing. We will leave at dawn. No later, no earlier." The captain said, getting up and tipping his hat in Twilight's direction and slowly walking away, back to his boat to sleep for the night.

"Where are we going to find accommodation?" Cana asked, watching the captain move away before turning her gaze back to the others.

"No clue, but I'm sure we'll be able to catch up to them. They should've arrived at the island by now, if not then they're very close to it." Twilight answered, resting her head against the tabletop while cradling her face in her hands. "This is ending up in a disaster." She groaned.

"It's not a disaster. We'll get on the boat in the morning and then get off at Galuna, depending when we get there, it will be about noonish, I think." Cana reassured Twilight, patting her on the shoulder.

"Yeah, well, we had better get there as soon as we can. Who knows what's happening on that island." Twilight replied, straightening up in her chair and looking at the both of them. She then eyed the flask in Cana's hand and raised an eyebrow.

"How can you drink that much and still have enough cognitive abilities to think straight?" Twilight asked, referring to the keg of beer she had drunk earlier at the guild.

"I've gotten used to it, especially after drinking for five years." Cana said with a shrug, taking a sip.

"Aren't you eighteen though?" Twilight asked, jaw dropping in astonishment.

"Yeah, so?" Cana asked, looking pointedly at Twilight.

"Thirteen year-olds can't drink. Their bodies are unable to handle it." Twilight explained, stressing the fact that she shouldn't have even been drinking at that age.

"Turns out my metabolism is stronger than most." Cana replied, giving Twilight a grin. This shut Twilight up for a moment, giving Levy a chance to speak.

"There's accommodation not far from here. I found it while searching for someone to take us to the island. It's fairly cheap too so there's that." Levy interjected, placing her hands flat on the table.

"Not like there's any other option. Let's go with that." Cana agreed, standing up while putting her flask away. She then gripped Twilight's shoulder and brought her to a standing position as well. "Come on. Levy, can you lead us there? I think I broke her brain." Cana said with a chuckle, gently steering Twilight in Levy's wake.


	15. The Island

Crystal blinked her eyes open, wincing and groaning at the harsh rays assaulting her vision. Turning around to be on her stomach, she blew some sand out of the way before finally standing up. Hissing as she held her side, she glared at the distant shore and huffed.

"It's official. We're swimming back." Crystal muttered. ' _Where are the other two?_ ' She thought, scanning the beach for her companions. Seeing a pink leg poking out of a bush, she sighed and began to slowly walk to it. "Come on, Pinkie. Get up." She said, and gave the leg a small kick once she reached it.

Pinkie gave a yelp and stood up, leaves in her mane and tail. "You got sand in your hair." Pinkie pointed out, stepping out of the bush. Crystal quickly brushed it out and shook her head to see if that would get rid of the rest of it.

"Thanks. You got leaves in your mane and tail. Have you seen Gray?" Crystal asked, looking from side to side.

"No, silly. I only just got up from that crash landing." Pinkie replied, smiling and bobbing her head from side to side. "Oh, right." Pinkie ran her hands through her poofy mane to get the leaves out and did the same for her tail.

"Right. A crash landing is still a landing." Crystal said, shading her eyes from the sun. "He's not on the beach, and he doesn't appear to be anywhere near you so that would mean he got flung further into the forest," she surmised, frowning. "Come on, let's see if we can go find him if he hasn't woken up already."

* * *

"Gray? You here?" Pinkie called out, looking under rocks and in trees.

"I don't think he's under a rock." Crystal called out, a bit aways from her and checking various bushes.

"You never know. Rocks are very good at hiding secrets." Pinkie replied, looking at Crystal while hanging upside down from a tree branch, not bothering to fix up her skirt.

"Whatever you say. I think Gray has woken up and walked off without us." Crystal said, looking up at Pinkie and sporting a blush as she desperately tried to keep her eyes trained on her face but was unsuccessful as they kept wandering up her body.

"You sure? I think I see someone moving thattaway." Pinkie pointed, arching her back and flipping down to land on her feet with her arms outstretched to either side in order to keep her balance. Pivoting around, she grabbed Crystal's hand and began to lead her.

"What did they look like?" Crystal asked, blush fading away and pulling her hand out of Pinkie's grip to brush aside branches as they walked passed them.

"No idea. It was very hairy and was coloured turquoise. That's strange, even for me." Pinkie answered, keeping her eyes peeled for whatever she saw. "I think it was also wearing a white lace headband and had big rat-like ears." She added as an afterthought. Crystal blanched at the description, hoping that it wasn't what she thought it was.

"Please don't tell me it also wore frilly clothes." Crystal groaned, holding a hand against her head.

"I think it … did …" Pinkie trailed off, jaw dropping at the sheer size of the animal lumbering about with icy spikes in it's side.

"Gray's been through here." Crystal whispered, pointing to the ice around the area.

"Do you think this rat ate him?" Pinkie asked in a very loud whisper, getting the rat's attention.

"No … but maybe we should run. I don't think we can fight Angelica on our own." Crystal said, leaping to the side and running past it, dragging Pinkie after her.

Ten minutes earlier, Gray groaned and sat up, rubbing his face to see if that would wake him up. His vision blurred slightly from looking at the sudden brightness of the sun, a stark contrast from the dark of the night before. "Pinkie? Crystal? You around here?" He asked out loud, standing up and looking around for any signs of them. Finding none, he began to walk forward, hands in his pockets while on the lookout for anything suspicious.

He winced as he tried to roll his shoulder, feeling slight pain flare through it. ' _Must have been caused by the crash._ ' He thought with a glum look on his face, wondering about the fate of his friends. Hearing rustling in some nearby shrubbery, he stopped and automatically gathered magic in his hands for a spell while looking in that direction.

"Who's there?" Gray asked the shrub. What burst out of the bush was a giant rat with turquoise fur. It wore a pink bow below its neck, a black corset-like top with pink frilly edges and was wearing a white lace headband on its head. "That's something you don't see everyday." He said in shock. When the rat screeched at him, he directed his magic towards the forest floor. "Ice-Make: Floor!" Gray shouted, covering the ground between him and the rat in ice.

When the rat began to run, it got a surprised look on its face and skidded on the ice instead, heading straight for the ice mage. Gray quickly leapt to the side to get out of the way but the rat's tail managed to trip him up, making him bang his head against the forest floor.

Grunting in pain, he rolled over and held his head, shouting in shock as he leaped backwards to avoid a swipe from the giant rat. Gathering magic for another spell, he ran back to get a bit of distance and prepared it. "Ice-Make: Arrows!" He shouted and an ice bow formed around his hands. Pointing it horizontally at the rat, a bunch of ice arrows were shot at high speed towards the creature. Not bothering to see if the attack worked or not, he took the opportunity to run away from the giant rat, creature, thing and further into the forest.

After they heard a screech, Pinkie and Crystal double-timed it. Letting her go on ahead, Crystal slowed and turned, lighting one of her hands on fire and covering the other in crystal, she wondered why she didn't do this before. When Angelica came close, she combined the two, creating a crystal fireball. Tossing it up and down in her hands a couple of times, Crystal chucked the ball at the rat and felt her magic drain quite a bit when the ball made contact, exploding against the fur.

Angelica gave an infuriated howl, feeling the crystal break apart and embed itself into her skin while the flames spread out, burning a fairly large patch of fur. Giving in to instinct, she gave a pained howl and took off in a random direction after shaking the flames out.

"That was a little too easy." Crystal panted, watching the rat run away.

"It's a giant rat. Anything would run away after being burned like that." Pinkie said, having walked back to Crystal after noticing she wasn't with her.

"Burned fur ...horrible stench. I'll be back." Crystal groaned, covering her nose and mouth as she bolted behind a nearby tree to throw up. Pinkie shook her head and followed her, leaning against the trunk on the opposite side.

"You did not think that through." Pinkie giggled, nose wrinkling at the stench the rat had left behind. "It is a terrible smell though." she continued, her voice coming out nasally as she pinched her nose between a couple of fingers.

"You're telling me. I didn't think I'd find so far behind me." Gray commented, stretching his arms by crossing them over his body as he walked towards Pinkie. "Where's Crystal?"

"Behind this tree. She should be done in a couple of minutes." Pinkie said nasally, jabbing with a free thumb behind her.

"I need to get away from this stench …" Crystal mumbled, walking slowly out from behind the tree and clutching her stomach. She barely even noticed Gray and Pinkie were there.

"I think we all do. You tell me what's going on with you once we get clear." Gray ordered, supporting Crystal.

"I can do that." Crystal mumbled, feeling a headache coming on from the massive drain in her magic as well as the sudden bout of morning sickness.

"Great! Let's see if we can figure out why we're even here in the first place." Pinkie said, placing her hands behind her head. She walked beside the two of them, sending Crystal concerned glances every once in awhile.

"It says," Crystal paused to get the mission paper out of her cube, "That we need to lift a curse off the island. Gray said he wanted to come here because he heard that Lyon was around. Isn't that right?" She asked, turning her head to him.

"That's right. I heard rumors that Lyon was on an island and I didn't see any island-related jobs on the regular board so while everyone went home for the night, I grappled up with my ice hook. Then it was just a matter of taking the job and then leaving." Gray said simply, as if it was an everyday thing for him.

"I think we can stop now. I can barely smell the burnt fur now." Crystal said, taking Gray's arm off of her shoulders and sitting down with a thump. She crossed her legs and stretched, taking in slow deep breaths. She heard the others sit near her. They were probably grateful for the stop.

"I think you have something to say, now that we've stopped." Gray said, waiting patiently for Crystal to speak.

"Okay, fine. I'm pregnant. There." Crystal said, rubbing her eyes and not looking him in the face. After about ten minutes of nothing but silence and the various sounds of the forest, she looked up to see Gray have a blank look on his face. "Gray … you okay there?" She asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

"If you're pregnant, then why did you let me take you here?" Gray asked after having thought through what she said for a bit.

"You think I didn't try to stop you? What did you think all that yelling was before you iced me?" Crystal retorted.

"Now it makes sense." Gray got a bit of emotion back on his face, smiling at them.

"You are taking this news extremely well." Crystal said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"How else am I meant to take it? You're pregnant. So what? As long you protect yourself properly you should be fine." Gray shrugged, finally coming back to his senses. "Of course, we'll both protect you as much as we can." Gray added.

"That's right. We'll both protect you so long as we know you can . Seeing what happened with that rat before, you most certainly can." Pinkie answered with a vigorous nod of agreement.

* * *

As the first rays of dawn hit their eyes, the three occupants in room 104 instantly sat up, rubbed their eyes and bolted out the door. Twilight remembered to leave the right amount of bits on the counter before rushing off after the others.

When the three arrived at the docks, they ran to their boat and hopped on just as it was beginning to take off, thankful that they weren't there one minute later.

"Cutting it close, aren't we?" The captain asked, chuckling to himself at the dishevelled trio.

"We didn't think of setting an alarm." Twilight answered sheepishly, sitting down on the deck of the boat to catch her breath.

"We made it just in time though." Levy sighed in relief, sitting next to Twilight.

"We got four hours ahead of us so I suggest you get comfortable." The captain ordered, tipping his hat at the three women before turning to the helm and keeping them on course.

"Four hours should give us plenty of time to talk about how to get Gray back home. He's obviously at the island by now." Twilight said, covering her mouth as she yawned.

"So, any ideas?" Cana asked, picking out six cards from her deck and sitting opposite the both of them.

"I could probably write our ideas down but I don't have any paper." Levy said, looking at the cards Cana had picked out. "What are you doing with them?"

"I'm making calling cards. Two for you, two for Twilight, and two for me. If we separate once we get to the island, this will help us talk to each other or, if we desperately need help, direct us to the person in need." Cana explained, placing both her index and middle finger on one of the cards and concentrated a bit of magic into it. Once she was done, a cartoonish version of Twilight's face popped up. The word 'CALL' was above the face in yellow letters while below it, the word 'DISTRESS' appeared in bright red letters. She repeated it for the other two cards, the only difference being the faces on each. Once done with all three, she handed them out to each recipient.

"This will definitely help. Thanks, Cana." Twilight said, flashing her a smile.

"No problem." Cana shrugged and took out her flask from her bag.

"You're drinking? At this hour?" Twilight asked in disbelief.

"No, I'm drinking water. Helps to stay hydrated." Cana gave Twilight a pointed look and took a long draught from it. A bit of the liquid fell past her mouth, letting both Levy and Twilight know that it was indeed water and not alcohol like Twilight originally thought.

"Water drinking aside, what ideas do we have?" Levy asked, steering the topic back on point.

"We could always grab his neck and drag him home." Cana offered casually.

"No, that's too rough. Remember, Crystal and Pinkie will be with him as well." Twilight reminded them, placing an elbow on one of her eyes and habitually start biting her nails.

"Oh right. Our main priority should be Gray though." Levy pointed out.

"Makarov did say that we should bring Gray back." Twilight sighed, bowing her head and looking down at herself. "We need to think up of something before we get there."

"How about, we trap him in one of my cards and take him home that way?" Cana asked, picking one of her cards out and flipping it around to show them a blank face.

"It's blank." Twilight said, raising an eyebrow. "Why are you showing us a blank card?"

"Let me give you a demonstration." Cana said and smiled, moving her hand and slapping the card against Twilight's cheek. She poured her magic into the slap, forcing Twilight to be sucked inside the card. It dropped onto the deck, with Twilight banging against the inside of the card in protest. After giving her a few minutes to think about it, Cana waved her hand over the card, releasing the spell on it, feeling a considerable drain in her magic.

"That was not nice." Twilight shivered, looking at the blank card beside her. "I don't want to go back in there but I can see how it can be effective." Twilight said, picking the card up and handing it back to Cana.

"Your welcome. Only drawback is it drains my magic by a considerable amount. So maybe it can be used as a last resort." She said, grinning.

"That's one idea. Any others?" Levy asked, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. "We could always help them." She suggested.

"Help them complete the S-Class Quest?" Twilight asked in surprise. "We're tasked with bringing Gray home and that's it. Nothing else."

"Think about it. If we help them with the quest, then it would go by a lot quicker. Getting the mission done quicker means getting Gray back to the guild a lot quicker." Levy tried to persuade the both of them.

"It would be quicker if we just persuaded him to come home." Twilight retorted, resting her head in one of her hands.

"While that is true, we've got to think of other ways to get him home if diplomacy fails." Cana said.

"Halfway there, pretty ladies." The captain announced cheerfully.

"Only halfway? Feels like it's been a lot longer than that." Cana said drily.

"If we can't think of anything else, then we'll just go with one of two options. Join them and help, or convince Gray to come back to the guild." Levy repeated their ideas back to them.

"I really like the first one. I haven't seen any action in awhile." Cana said with a grin.

Twilight shook her head at that. "I still think we can talk him out of it." She said with conviction.

"Whatever the case, we've got to do something about getting Gray home." Levy shrugged and looked at the card Cana had given her. "This is meant to help us chat with each other if we get separated?"

"Yeah, it is. Just touch the 'CALL' option and think about who you want to chat with. The 'DISTRESS' option is there if you need both of us to come to your aid." Cana repeated her instructions to them, hoping it will stick this time.

"Call and Distress. Simple enough." Twilight murmured, looking over her own card.

* * *

"Here we are." The captain announced, shaking his three guests awake. All three of them opened their eyes and sat up, yawning for various lengths of time. Twilight got up after stretching and observed the beach they were docked at.

"Thank you." Twilight said, and walked down the gangplank that had been set up. The other two thanked him as well and followed. The captain tipped his hat and removed the gangplank once he was sure they were off. Immediately looking at the beach for clues, Twilight and the others walked slowly around, trying to find any tracks.

"Can't seem to find any tracks." Cana muttered, turning towards the others.

"I can't find any either." Levy frowned, placing her hands on her hips.

"I found something here!" Twilight shouted from the other side of the beach. Looking at the two sets of footprints, she followed them with her gaze until they disappeared into the treeline. "I think I found two sets of footprints here." She said once the others were near her.

"Two? Rainbow said that Gray was with Crystal and Pinkie, right?" Cana asked, looking at the same direction Twilight.

"They disappear beyond here." Levy commented, waving Twilight and Cana over.

"They do. It could be ages before we can find them then." Twilight groaned. "Yes, Crystal and Pinkie are with Gray." She answered Cana, placing a hand on her forehead, just underneath her horn.

"No choice but to move forward then, right? No use finding them if we stand here." Cana shrugged and lead the way into the forest.


End file.
